Emily Greenstein's blog

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

After attending the Spring Symposium for Advanced Wound Care and hearing many great lectures, I got to thinking, “What are the pillars of chronic wound care?” We have all heard of the concept “look at the whole patient and not the hole in the patient.” Heck, I have even written about it. But we also need to have a good foundation for how to implement this phrase or where to even start. I did a quick Internet search and came up with some interesting articles that talked about the basics of wound care and management. I found discussions on everything from maintaining a moist wound environment to being financially responsible. All of this information leads me to the concept of developing easy-to-understand pillars or categories to consider when caring for a patient with a chronic wound.

Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Wound care has evolved from treatments based on superstition to systematic, evidence-based care. The history of wound healing dates back to 2000 BCE. Various civilizations over the centuries had differing approaches to wound care.

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Last month I introduced you to the concept of how being a wound care professional is often a lot like being a detective. This blog post is going to start our “cases.” I decided, in keeping with the theme, to write it up similar to what you would see in a court document.

By: Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Being a wound care professional is often a lot like being a detective. You have to decide what caused the wound, what is contributing to its not healing and how you are going to get it to heal. I have decided to start a series of “cases” that are commonly overlooked or seen in the chronic wound care setting. The cases will focus on real-life scenarios—moisture-associated skin damage versus pressure injury, red leg syndrome versus venous stasis ulcer, how to identify pyoderma, and the importance of a moist wound healing environment. This series will also provide practical strategies for overcoming healing obstacles for slow, non-healing, and challenging wounds.

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

The New Year is finally here, the beginning of a new decade. And we all know that with the calendar change comes the urge to get rid of any and all bad habits. Time to start over, wipe the slate clean, and transform into something amazing. Except, in reality it never seems to happen that way. We may start out well and then fall off the wagon and back into old habits.

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

It’s that time of year again. For the leaves to change, all the ghouls and goblins to come alive, and for a sudden influx of sugar! After the success of last year's blog post "How Being a Wound Specialist Can Help You Survive a Zombie Apocalypse," I knew I had to do another Halloween-themed post. In my practice I have seen an influx of animals bites this summer, which got me to thinking, what if you were bitten by a werewolf or vampire?

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Recently I was able to attend the Spring Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) in San Antonio, Texas. I attended many different lectures, presented, and sat on a few expert panels. The one recurring theme that kept echoing was the need to look at the whole picture. Often, as wound specialists, we get in the habit of looking just at the wound without taking into consideration the underlying comorbidities and potential causes of the wound in the first place. This got me thinking, how do I treat a new patient who comes into my wound center? I decided to put together the top five "tips" to remember to look at the whole patient, not just the hole in the patient (as originally stated by Dr. Carrie Sussman, DPT, PT).

By Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

I recently presented this topic as a Journal Club presentation for the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care Members. I feel like this is a very important and interesting subject, so I wanted to share it with more people. Morgellons disease (MD) is a disorder that can be considered controversial. One view of it is that the disorder is purely a psychological condition, and the other view is that the disorder is actually a byproduct of another infectious process. My goal is to give you some facts from both sides and allow you to make your own decision.

by Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

"When I grow up, I want to be a wound care specialist." That's not something you hear kids going around saying. Sure, kids want to be doctors or nurses. But wound care specialist?

When you think about it, being a wound specialist is not a glamorous position, unlike being a neurosurgeon. The best quote that I ever heard from a colleague of mine was, "No one wants to do wound care; wound care isn't sexy." This may be true, but what is wound care then? To me it is ever changing, it is learning new things (most of which are not found in text books), and it is about helping patients heal both emotionally and physically from a chronic condition.

by Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a page dedicated to preparing for a zombie apocalypse?

When I was first asked to write something for this blog, I knew I did not want to do the “same old same old” wound care topic for my first post. Therefore, I set out to find something out of the box that people would enjoy reading. When I started researching topics, I kept going back to doing something in the spirit of Halloween; fall, including Halloween, is my favorite season. The leaves changing, the pumpkin spice everything, and of course, all the scary fun that Halloween embodies. I love reading stories on the history behind the Salem witch trials. I even went to a psychic once. But the recurring theme that kept coming up in my search was that of a zombie apocalypse. The aforementioned CDC preparedness recommendations for a zombie apocalypse include having first aid kits and bandaging supplies because although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat any cuts or scraps you obtain from running from them.