Patient Accessibility

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

An important step in wound management is identifying wound etiology. Pinpointing the problem often helps guide patient treatment. Identifying the cause of the wound, employing evidence-based interventions, and initiating an appropriate topical therapy will help to stabilize and, oftentimes, heal the wound. However, the decisions patients make on a daily basis, along with activities (time spent in bed, chair, with legs dependent, etc), have a significant impact on healing outcomes, independent of the wound care professional. Patient-centered education is a huge piece of effective self-management and an essential component of the nursing plan of care. This blog will focus on the importance of initial and ongoing patient-centered education in chronic wound management.

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

Refractory wounds comprise a significant worldwide health problem, affecting 5 to 7 million people per year in the United States alone, as discussed in previous blogs. Wounds that fail to heal not only impact quality of life, but also impose a significant physical, psychosocial, and financial burden. Additionally, individuals with refractory wounds often experience significant morbidity, and sometimes mortality. Wound infections and amputations are common in this population, and chronic conditions often exist as well.

By Alton R. Johnson Jr., DPM

It all started with a phone call at close to midnight on a Saturday night from my physician’s phoneline app. It was an established wound care patient calling me to state that his negative pressure therapy device went awry. He was requesting advice to resolve the issue. Out of these growing concerns, he stated that if there was no solution, he would be immediately reporting to our hospital emergency room, which was not his preference in such a situation. In response, I simply informed the patient it was safe to turn off the device and that I would make a home visit to him at 5 o’clock the next morning. With a sigh of relief, he agreed to the plan.

Holly M. Hovan MSN, RN-BC, APRN, CWOCN-AP

You might notice the hospital halls seem a little quieter around the holidays, the unit census may be down, and patients may be asking about their discharge plans. The holidays can be a time when patients want to be home (when they're able to).

By Cathy Wogamon, DNP, MSN, FNP-BC, CWON, CFCN

Wound care has evolved into a massive specialty service in the past few decades, with new treatment modalities, advances in care, and thousands of wound care products. On the forefront of advancements in technology and wound care is a new way to provide care to the patient: telehealth.

By Ivy Razmus, RN, PhD, CWOCN

People in wheelchairs are limited in their mobility, sensory perception, and activity. These limitations can lead to increased temperature and moisture on the areas that are in contact with the wheelchair surface. These risk factors place wheelchair users at a higher risk for pressure injuries. A pressure injury is localized damage to the skin and underlying soft tissue, usually over a bony prominence or related to a medical or other device. Pressure from medical devices against the skin may also cause pressure injury. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and its associated comorbidities are among the highest-risk population for developing pressure injuries. The incidence of pressure ulcers in patients with SCI is 25%–66%.

By Margaret Heale, RN, MSc, CWOCN

"Must Love Dogs (Cats, Lizards, Snakes, Birds, AND Arachnids)." This is a line that needs to be next to all job advertisements for home health care staff. You see, I am a dog lover, not because I love dogs but because I have a way of being able to adapt in order to survive. I work in home care as a clinical nurse specialist and have slowly learned to love dogs ever since I was reported to my manager for mentioning I didn't like them much. Shortly after this I was told not to visit a patient whose cat I had shooed away from my wound dressing field. While discussing this with a colleague, she told me of the bird that had landed on her head that morning just as she was probing the patient's foot wound with a Q-tip. Maybe everybody has had experiences like mine, but maybe not, so I would like to put mine to paper to entertain you in this season of good cheer.

by the WoundSource Editors

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

Let's be frank: wound care telemedicine cannot replace a visit to a physician's office or the wound care center. Telemedicine was primarily developed to reduce visits and help serve people living in rural communities. However, telemedicine can supplement advanced wound care in many ways, and has been proven to be time saving and effective. Telemedicine in wound care has its pros and cons (like anything else), but with a protocol-driven approach, it is effective for wound healing.

By Janet Wolfson, PT, CLWT, CWS, CLT-LANA

It is hard to read a newspaper (my preferred news source) or an online news site without discovering false information. I recently read an NPR article about how to vet news yourself and how to recognize this.¹ The vulnerability I felt made me think about protecting my decisions from this reporting and even more, how I can help my patients weed out fake reports.