Product Education

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC I feel like I am spinning my wheels on this warm sunny day in Ohio. My passion for wound care continues to grow, but I have days like these every once in a while. I always say, "We don't know what we don't know, right?" So I keep chipping away to educate and mentor other health care professionals.

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC The big debate continues in regards to using wet-to-dry dressings. One thing that is for certain though is that this type of dressing is frowned upon in long-term care facilities per the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) Guidelines for pressure ulcers. However, long-term care facilities are put at risk for citations when using wet-to-dry dressings for any wound type.

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 Samantha Kuplicki, MSN, APRN-CNS, AGCNS-BC, CWS, CWCN, CFCN There are currently hundreds of skin moisturizing products on the market for clinicians to choose from. It is often difficult to wade through various brands and formulations to determine which is appropriate to treat a specific skin issue, and even more is involved in understanding the function of each ingredient. Protecting the body’s functional barrier is integral to staving off pathogens and defending the body from infection.

By Janet Wolfson, PT, CLWT, CWS, CLT-LANA Reflecting back on "In the Trenches With Lymphedema," WoundSource's June Practice Accelerator webinar, many people sent in questions. I have addressed some regarding compression use here.

By James McGuire, DPM, PT, LPed, FAPWHc In my recent WoundSource webinar, I discussed the topic of debridement strategies and chronic wounds. The webinar is still available for viewing on WoundSource.com. Wound debridement is the foundation for healing in chronic wounds. Excessive debridement is a detriment to healing, whereas proper removal of accumulated non-viable tissue or foreign material from the wound bed maintains a healthy progressive healing trajectory and avoids wound chronicity.

By Hy-Tape International According to a published study, the global prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) is 6.3%, with male patients and older adults being the most likely to be affected.1 This prevalence, coupled with the potential for complications and the severe effect on quality of life the condition can have, makes DFUs one of today's most serious health care issues. To reduce the effects of DFUs and improve outcomes for patients, it is critical that health care professionals rapidly identify DFUs and implement best practice dressing and management strategies.

By Terri Kolenich, RN, CWCA, AAPWCA I travel to several states educating wound care providers and nurses in the long-term care setting. Many of the questions I get are the same whether I'm on the east or west coast. The one question that I encounter the most often during wound rounds or an education session is: "How do I know which treatment to use for this wound?"

By Jeanne Cunningham, Founder of WoundSource After seeing about 100 pictures of wounds, I was beginning to feel sick. The year was 1985 and there I was, a recent college graduate in my 20s, sitting in a cramped office at the Crozer Chester Medical Center in Chester, PA, watching slide after slide of feet, elbows, legs, bottoms, in fact, every part of the human body with open, colorful wounds.

by Samantha Kuplicki, MSN, APRN-CNS, AGCNS-BC, CWS, CWCN, CFCN Recently, we've reviewed application and documentation strategies for negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), but what about navigating the different systems currently on the market? We know all devices have the mechanism of negative pressure in common, but what other characteristics need to be considered when selecting the right device for your patient? In this installment, we will become better acquainted with the characteristics of NPWT devices and how they differ for various systems.