Palliative Care

By Aletha Tippett MD

It's How We Learn Wound Care
How does one learn to care for wounds? I am a physician and a wound specialist. My medical school training included physiology of wound healing, but no practical teaching. There was nothing in residency either. Everything I know about wounds I learned from attending conferences and workshops.

By Mary Ellen Posthauer RDN, CD, LD, FAND

Recently there have been numerous articles and webinars focusing on the methods health care professional can employ to effectively communicate and engage in end of life conversations with patients receiving palliative and/or hospice care.

By Aletha Tippett MD

There is lots in store for the new year, and a great many wound care conferences just chock-full of information. There is one conference this year that you may not know about—small, quiet, highly informative and productive. That is the 2015 Palliative Wound Care Conference that will be held in Orlando, Florida, in May this year.

By Diana L. Gallagher MS, RN, CWOCN, CFCN

I recently had the privilege of attending a patient's funeral. I would imagine that most nurses attend funerals for special patients from time to time. As a Certified Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse (CWOCN®), I often care for patients with chronic conditions. Over time, I get to know them and their families very well. A lot of them have become more than patients…some of them are even my friends. I celebrate their successes and I mourn their losses.

By Aletha Tippett MD

The topic of grief and bereavement is near to my heart right now as I just lost my beloved therapy dog, Barney, suddenly to hemangiosarcoma after years of service. He was an important and valued part of our healing community and will be mourned for a long time.

By Michael Miller DO, FACOS, FAPWCA, WCC

A friend and colleague is going to die. This of itself is not news as the process of dying unquestionably begins from the moment of conception. This case is perhaps a bit sadder and more morose than many. As health care providers, we relish in the success of prolongation of life. The birth of a baby, healing after an illness and returning to our usual lives, the successful healing of a wound of longevity and strife. And yet the measurement of successful healing, like the measurement of a successful life, is one defined by an infinite number of parameters from an infinite number of opinions.

By Diana L. Gallagher MS, RN, CWOCN, CFCN

While watching the CBS news show, Sunday Morning, my attention was captured by a piece offered by Steve Hartman. I admit that I am a fan of Steve Hartman. I always enjoy his sense of which stories are really important. Today's news is filled with turmoil, tragedy, and drama; a lot like life but on a much larger scale. There simply has to be something positive trapped in the midst of so much overwhelming negative information. Once again, Steve Hartman found that thread of optimism in the midst of tragedy. It is that invisible thread and hope that there is something positive to reap out of overwhelming tragedy that serves as a lifeline to so many of us.

By Aletha Tippett MD

I recently had a patient encounter that reminded me of the difference between palliative and curative wound care. In my role as a hospice medical director with a specialty in wound care, I am often asked to see wounds in our hospice patients. I was asked to see this particular patient because of a wound on her coccyx. I had already approved the nurse’s order of medicated hydrogel covered with a foam dressing, changed every three days. This seemed like a reasonable treatment plan; simple and straightforward. I also gave instructions to provide adequate support surface on her mattress, static air if possible.

By Lindsay D. Andronaco RN, BSN, CWCN, WOC, DAPWCA, FAACWS

In the past two blogs I have discussed a controversial topic, skin failure. We all have strong feelings on this topic and have experienced different cases in our practice. Dispute the controversial feelings on KTUs and skin failure; I would like to now just address the viewpoint of the family and how to approach these difficult conversations.

By Lindsay D. Andronaco RN, BSN, CWCN, WOC, DAPWCA, FAACWS

Part 2 in a series on skin failure
For Part 1, Click Here

In March of 1989 the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) convened, during which Karen Lou Kennedy first described the Kennedy Terminal Ulcer (KTU) phenomenon. A KTU is an unavoidable skin breakdown or skin failure that is thought to be a perfusion problem exacerbated by vascular/profusion insufficiency, organ failure, and/or the dying process. A KTU is a visible sign, an explanation, of what is transpiring within the patient.