Education

Christine Miller, DPM, PhD

As the holiday season approaches, bundles of mistletoe will no doubt appear in many homes across the world. This popular holiday decoration, with its green leaves and white berries dangling from doorways, may induce the act of kissing between passersby. Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) is a semi-parasitic shrub that often grows upon oak, pine, and elm trees and is a member of the Viscaceae family commonly found in northern Europe. One may never look at mistletoe the same after learning about its therapeutic offerings, especially as those therapeutic properties relate to wound care.

According to a recent MGMA Stat poll, 60% of health care organizations offer an onboarding/mentorship program for new health care professionals. This process involves the transfer of knowledge from 1 clinician to another. While this premise sounds straightforward, it is more nuanced.

Wound care professionals may struggle to meet the ever-increasing needs of patients while they focus on learning new technologies or knowledge in a rapidly evolving field. Mentorship programs allow for easier knowledge transfer to speed up the learning process.

Biofilm: A complex microbial community containing bacteria and fungi. The microorganisms synthesize and secrete a protective matrix that attaches the biofilm firmly to a living or non-living surface. The biofilm contributes to underlying wound infection, chronic inflammation, and delay in healing, and it is present in 80% to 90% of chronic wounds and 6% of acute wounds.

Epibole: Rolled or curled-under closed wound edges. These rolled edges are thickened epidermis that may be callused, dry, scaly, and/or hyperkeratotic. When epibole is present in a wound, it signals to the body that the wound has healed, even though the wound remains open. Epibole must be resolved to allow the wound to close.

Exudate: Fluid drainage originating from tissue in the wound bed in response to injury or inflammation. Exudate types are serous or clear, sanguineous or bloody, purulent, or seropurulent. Exudate quantity is none, scant, small or minimal, moderate, large, or copious.

Accreditation: Accreditation is the process by which an accrediting agency certifies that an institution adheres to a set of educational criteria. The United States Department of Education maintains a listing of recognized accrediting agencies. Digital education materials such as conferences and webinars often go through accreditation.

CEU and CME: CME stands for continuing medical education credits for physicians and others with a medical license, whereas CE and CEU (continuing education unit) are terms used for other health professions.

Digital education: Digital education refers to the innovative implementation of digital tools and technologies during teaching and learning activities, including eLearning, microlearning, and mobile applications. Digital education can also be available in the form of virtual conferences and webinars.

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, DAPWCA, FACCWS

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and with the staggering statistics of one in four adults living with mental illness, I immediately was motivated to write a personal blog. I previously shared my son’s experience here in 2020, in “Wound Management Challenges in Prison Populations,” and discussed the importance of establishing a quality of wound care. I started thinking about the high number of incarcerated people with mental health issues, and it prompted me to conduct a bit more research. Given my son's dual diagnosis of schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I recall having a conversation with him during this time about debridement methods because advanced wound care would become extremely complicated. I immediately started educating him on possible dressings and debridement methods that could be used on his wound. This gave him an idea of what to expect and allowed him to decline certain treatments if he so preferred.

By the WoundSource Editors

To understand the concepts of a wound and wound healing, we must examine the skin and its pathophysiology, as well as its unique structures and functions. Skin care and wound management must be grounded in a comprehensive knowledge base of the structure and functions of the skin. The skin is the largest organ of the body, covering approximately 18 square feet and weighing about 12 pounds, or up to 15% of total adult body weight. It requires one-third of an individual’s circulating blood volume to sustain it. Normal surface skin temperature is 92 degrees, compared with a core body temperature average of 98.6 degrees.

By Holly M. Hovan, MSN, GERO-BC, APRN, CWOCN-AP

The third Thursday in November is a highly recognized day within many hospital systems and wound care programs. This day is recognized nationally as World Wide Pressure Injury Prevention Day, highlighted by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP). The third Thursday in November is a time to bring awareness to pressure injury prevention, treatment, and research. Each year, we highlight this day a little bit differently, but this year definitely looked much different from years past.

In a recent survey, we asked our WoundSource Editorial Advisory Board members what outdated wound care practices they continue to see in the field. Depending on what health care setting clinicians work in, there are specific guidelines, policies, and procedures that may impact standard of care. Our board members come from a variety of backgrounds, so their answers varied based on their areas of expertise, but there were a few practices that they could all agree should be left in the past. Do you still use any of these?

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, DAPWCA, FACCWS

I am into my 20th year working as a wound care specialist. I must admit, I never thought much about wound management in the prison population until my son's wound care experiences during his incarcerations. I am quite transparent with this blog, and after you finish reading it, I hope you will have a different perspective on wound care in prison populations. I want to point out that this was my son's experience, which he encouraged me to share to help others. This blog is my view and does not define correctional nurses or wound care management in all prisons. I have the utmost respect for correctional nurses because I know that I could not do it. Through my son's experience, I identified various gaps in education and factors affecting quality of wound care that led to my interest in researching this area of wound care.