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WoundSource Reader Profile: Fabiola Jimenez

WoundSource Editors
April 27, 2017

In celebrating the 20th anniversary of WoundSource, we would like to acknowledge the support of our readership. The WoundSource Reader Profile Series shares the stories behind our readers and how WoundSource currently impacts their wound care practices.

Fabiola Jimenez, RN, ACNS-BC, CWOCN

Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse at Detroit Medical Center Huron Valley Sinai Hospital

Fabiola Jimenez is a Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse and Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist at Detroit Medical Center Huron Valley Sinai Hospital, a small community hospital of 158 beds in eastern Michigan. She has been a nurse since 1988, when she entered the field after graduating from the University of Oklahoma. Throughout her accomplished career, her work has demonstrated a dedication to caring for patients and a lifelong commitment to educating herself and others.

A Passion for Wound Care

Although Fabiola entered the wound care field 26 years into her 28-year career, she was immediately absorbed by it. After working in the nursing field for over two decades, she decided to advance her expertise by returning to school to become a clinical nurse specialist. During that time, she dramatically expanded her knowledge of wound care, incontinence, and endoscopy. She then transferred to her current hospital, where a position for an Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist had opened. There, she developed a respect and dedication to wound care, recognizing it as one of the most important and rewarding fields in the healthcare industry.

The Best and Worst Parts of Her Job

For Fabiola, the best part of her job is educating people. She loves to be able to teach her “students” - whether they are patients, family members, caregivers, or other nursing staff - about the rationale for a given intervention. When they finally understand, she feels a great sense of satisfaction, having shared her expertise with others. She also loves being able to care for people that need it, helping relieve their symptoms, giving them a sense of security, and helping them get better.

…But even the best jobs have their downsides. Fabiola dislikes having to discuss wound care with health care professionals who are still using outdated techniques and not open to change. She understands that the health care profession can only improve by adapting to new research, and that staying informed is critical.

Why Fabiola Reads WoundSource

Fabiola has been reading WoundSource for as long as she’s specialized in wound care. She loves the expert opinions and to-the-point articles they present. To reinforce her stances on certain treatments and spread knowledge in her workplace, she often shares blog articles with her colleagues and nursing students. She keeps a file of articles that she finds particularly interesting or important to reference when she needs them. Fabiola also hopes to publish articles in a peer-reviewed journal within the next three years, and WoundSource has helped her gain a better understanding of the wound care field—and subjects that may be of interest.

Fabiola recently had an opportunity to use WoundSource literature to improve care at her facility. Despite the fact that most adult perineal care guidelines recommend the use of water-only to cleanse patients, many practitioners in Fabiola’s workplace were using baby wipes for their ease of use. Because of what she learned reading from the other clinicians' experiences in the WoundSource blog and other wound care publications, Fabiola was able to advise the staff to end their use of baby wipes and implement a water-only cleansing practice. This has helped her improve outcomes for her patients while reducing expenditure on unnecessary products.

If you are interested in sharing your story with WoundSource, we would love to hear from you! CLICK HERE to contact us.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of WoundSource, HMP Global, its affiliates, or subsidiary companies.