By Carrie Carls, BSN, RN, CWOCN, CHRN, and Sherry Clayton, RHIA
In an atmosphere of changing reimbursement, it’s important to understand indications and utilization guidelines for healthcare services. Otherwise, facilities won’t receive appropriate reimbursement for provided services. This article focuses on Medicare reimbursement for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). (See What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?)
Why All the (pH)uss About Microenvironments?
The Importance of Acidic pH on Wound Healing Why All the (pH)uss About Microenvironments? By Martha Kelso, RN, HBOT, CEO, WCP The Wound Microenvironment Every wound or ulcer has factors that influence the wound bed environment and how it reacts. Many of these factors occur at a microscopic level and therefore can be referred to as the wound microenvironment. Inside this microenvironment, factors are at play that influence whether a wound heals or becomes chronically stalled.
By Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS Staging pressure ulcers can be challenging. Below are some common questions—and answers—about staging. Q. If a pressure ulcer heals (completely epithelialized over), but later reopens at the same site, how should it be staged?
Topical application of silver nitrate is often used in wound care to help remove and debride hypergranulation tissue or calloused rolled edges in wounds...
By Mark M. Lambert, Des Moines University Hansen’s disease, also called leprosy, is treatable today – and that’s partly thanks to a curious tree and the work of a pioneering young scientist in the...
BioLab Sciences, an innovator in regenerative medicine technologies, has announced the patent of MyOwn SkinTM, a new, non-evasive, regenerative tissue...
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center researchers have created electrically charged bandages that can combat antibiotic resistance, enable healing in...
About WoundCareAdvisor.com
GOAL
WoundCareAdvisor.com is a unique educational web destination that has been designed to be a trusted, timely and useful resource for healthcare professionals dealing with chronic wounds and ostomy management issues. Offerings on the side currently include
News
Peer-reviewed articles
Product information
Provider/patient education
Practical resources
Information on the site is continuously developed and updated to ensure that we are providing
Resources and information that is
Unique to the wound care field
Timely
Informative
Interactive
WoundCareAdvisor.com is also going to be growing! Future information will include:
Healing Wounds with Collagen: Knowing the Difference Makes All the Difference
This 30-minute presentation features learning opportunities that will provide in-depth instruction and demonstration in wound care treatments. After this webinar, the learner will be able to:
The Indications and Contraindications for Collagen
What a Wound Wants and Needs; and Why
Considerations of Collagen in Treating & Healing Wounds
Innovations in Wound Care: The role of wound cleansing in the management of wounds
This 30-minute presentation features learning opportunities that will provide in-depth instruction and demonstration in wound care treatments. After this webinar, the learner will be able to:
Identify the role of proper wound cleansing
Discuss how to select and use non-toxic wound cleansers
Describe advantages of collagen for managing a chronic wound
"Skin tears" may sound like a relatively minor event, but in reality, these injuries can have a significant impact on the quality of patients' lives in the form of pain, infection, and limited mobility.
The incidence of skin tears has been reported to be as high as 1.5 million annually, and with an aging population, this number is likely to go higher.
In this webinar, experts will explain how nurses can use an evidence-based approach -- including following practice guidelines to assess the wound and select the proper dressing -- for managing skin tears and minimizing their negative effects.
Winning the battle of skin tears in an aging population
"Skin tears" may sound like a relatively minor event, but in reality, these injuries can have a significant impact on the quality of patients' lives in the form of pain, infection, and limited mobility.
The incidence of skin tears has been reported to be as high as 1.5 million annually, and with an aging population, this number is likely to go higher.
In this webinar, experts will explain how nurses can use an evidence-based approach -- including following practice guidelines to assess the wound and select the proper dressing -- for managing skin tears and minimizing their negative effects.
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Skin Damage Associated with Moisture and Pressure
• Identify how wounds are classified according to wound depth and etiology
• Describe the etiology of pressure injury and incontinence- associated skin damage (IAD)
• Understand evidenced-based protocols of care for prevention and management of IAD and pressure injuries
• Recognize and describe NPUAP-EPUAP Pressure Injury Classification System
• Understand appropriate ConvaTec products that can be used for prevention and treatment of IAD and pressure injuries
With so much focus on dressing choices, it’s easy to forget the importance of wound cleansing. Wound cleansing can help achieve the goals of wound bed preparation by removing microorganisms, biological and environmental debris to create an environment beneficial to healing as well as facilitating wound assessment by allowing clear visualization of the wound.
Proper wound care is essential to preventing infections for patients in all practice settings, and healthcare providers should stay informed about the most current and effective treatments out there.
Recognizing factors that increase patients’ susceptibility to infection allows providers to identify risks and take measures to prevent infection from occurring or worsening.
Learn how your healthcare team can provide better patient care.
Patient care teams rely on the wound care nurse alone to implement a pressure ulcer prevention program; however, a successful program requires involvement from the entire care team and is a 24/7 endeavor.
Tips on how to differentiate and goals for protection and management.
* Identify how wounds are classified according to wound depth and etiology. * Describe the etiology of a pressure injury (PI) and incontinence-associated skin damage (IAD). * Discuss evidence-based protocols of care of prevention and management if IAD and PIs. * Describe the NPUAP-EPUAP Pressure Injury Classification System. * Identify appropriate products that can be used for preventioin and treatment of IAD and PIs.
[This e-book has been developed through an educational grant from CM&F Group]
Learn more about: A Continuing Risk for Healthcare Workers, Sharps Injuries: Facts and Figures, Proactive Steps for Yourself and Your Colleagues, A Preventable Injury, A Downloadable Workbook from the CDC, The Case for Coverage, If You are Exposed.
Needlesticks and other sharps-related exposures to bloodborne pathogens (including HIV, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus) continue to pose a significant occupational risk for healthcare workers
Safe biopsy handling One of the most common problems in connection with biopsy handling is the risk of being exposed to formalin either through touch or inhalation. A risk that doctors, veterinarians, laboratory technicians and nurses are exposed to every day.
With BiopSafe the problem is finally solved.
receive a free BiopSafe Sample and a free eBook PDF with more information and details.
Herpes zoster (HZ, also called shingles) is a painful condition that produces a maculopapular and vesicular rash. Usually, the rash appears along a single dermatome (band) around one side of the body or face. In most cases, pain, tingling, burning, or itching occurs a few days before the rash. Next, blisters form, scabbing over in 7 to 10 days. In… read more
The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) describes support surfaces as “specialized devices for pressure redistribution designed for management of tissue loads, microclimate, and/or other therapeutic functions.” These devices include specialized mattresses, mattress overlays, chair cushions, and pads used on transport stretchers, operating room (OR) tables, examination or procedure tables, and gurneys. Some support surfaces are part of an integrated…
Herpes zoster (HZ, also called shingles) is a painful condition that produces a maculopapular and vesicular rash. Usually, the rash appears along a single dermatome (band) around one side of the body or face. In most cases, pain, tingling, burning, or itching occurs a few days before the rash. Next, blisters form, scabbing over in 7 to 10 days. In…
As a wound care expert, you’re probably consulted for every eruption, scrape, and opening in a patient’s skin. Occasionally during a patient assessment, you may scratch your head and ask yourself, “What is this? I’ve never seen anything like it.” Most wound care experts want to help heal everyone, and most of us love a challenge. But when should we…
Chronic venous leg ulcers (CVLUs) affect nearly 2.2 million Americans annually, including an estimated 3.6% of people over the age of 65. Given that CVLU risk increases with age, the global incidence is predicted to escalate dramatically because of the growing population of older adults. Annual CVLU treatment-related costs to the U.S. healthcare system alone are upwards of $3.5 billion,…
General characteristics Document if the diversion is an intestinal or urinary ostomy, whether it’s temporary or permanent, and the location— abdominal quadrant, skin fold, umbilicus. (See Descriptor reference.)
Skin substitutes (also called tissuebased products and dermal replacements) are a boon to chronic wound management when traditional therapies have failed. When selecting skin substitutes for their formularies, wound care professionals have many product options—and many decisions to make. Repair of skin defects has been a pressing concern for centuries. As early as the 15th century BC, Egyptian physicians chronicled…