One of the most important steps in achieving positive wound-healing outcomes is to choose the right wound care product. This can be tricky, challenging, and sometimes overwhelming—especially if you’re new to wound care. When I first started in wound care, I had four to five “go-to” products that I knew about. Beyond that, I had to guess what would work.…

Diabetes carries high economic burden According to a study published in Diabetes Care, the economic burden associated with diagnosed diabetes (all ages) and undiagnosed diabetes, gestational diabetes, and prediabetes (adults) exceeded $322 billion in 2012, amounting to an economic burden exceeding $1,000 for each American.

Special edition: Resources from the Buzz Report This issue, we highlight some resources from “The Buzz Report,” the popular presentation given by editor-in-chief Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS, at the Wild On Wounds (WOW) conference, held each September in Las Vegas.

By Jeri Lundgren, BSN, RN, PHN, CWS, CWCN The challenge of preventing pressure ulcers is won through our frontline staff—the patient’s caregivers. Caregivers deliver most of the pressure ulcer preventive interventions, such as turning and repositioning, floating the heels, and managing incontinence. That’s why it’s imperative to communicate the patient’s plan of care directly to the caregivers.

By Kathleen D. Schaum, MS Qualified healthcare professionals (QHPs), such as physicians, podiatrists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists, are taught to diagnose the reasons that chronic wounds aren’t healing and to create plans of care for aggressively managing the wound until it heals. Wound care professionals—nurses and therapists—are taught to implement those plans of care. All of these…

By Kari Olson Finnegan, BSN, and Liz Ferron, MSW, LICSW If you have at least one parent age 65 or older and are raising children or financially supporting a child age 18 or older, you’re part of the Sandwich Generation. Coined in 1981 by social worker Dorothy Miller, the term originally referred to women, generally in their 30s and 40s,…

By Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS Keeping clinicians up to date on clinical knowledge is one of the main goals of the Wild On Wounds (WOW) conference,held each September in Las Vegas. Each year, I present the opening session of this conference, called “The Buzz Report,”which focuses on the latest-breaking wound care news—what’s new, what’s now, and…

By Gail Rogers Hebert, MS, RN, CWCN, WCC, DWC, OMS, LNHA The World Health Organization defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other…

By Catherine E. Chung, PhD, RN, CNE, WCC As a wound care clinician, you teach patients about medications, wound treatments, the plan of care, symptoms of complications, wound physiology—you teach a lot. And most patients probably smile and nod when you ask, “Do you understand?” However, health literacy research has shown that only 12% of the U.S. population is fluent…

By Susan Beard, RN, BS, CWOCN Suppose you’re reading an article on a new product that states the product has been through a series of clinical trials before marketing. What does this mean? Who was involved? As a clinician, could you initiate or be involved in a clinical trial of a new product? Who are clinical trial subjects, and what’s…

Incidence density best measure of pressure-ulcer prevention program According to the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP), incidence density is the best quality measure of pressure-ulcer prevention programs. Pressure-ulcer incidence density is calculated by dividing the number of inpatients who develop a new pressure ulcer by 1,000 patient days. Using the larger denominator of patient days allows fair comparisons between institutions…

This issue’s resources include patient tools and new guidelines. Improving patient safety Research suggests that adverse events affect patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) more frequently, are commonly caused by communication problems, and are more likely to result in serious harm compared to adverse events affecting English-speaking patients. Your hospital can take steps to reduce risks of adverse events for…

By Debra Rose Wilson, PhD, MSN, RN, IBCLC, AHN-BC, and Dana Marie Dillard, MS, HSMI Like many clinicians, you may experience stress frequently, both on and off the job. Chronic stress can alter your equilibrium (homeostasis), activating physiologic reactive pathways that cause your body to shift its priorities. Physiologic effects of stress may include: slowed digestion delay in reproductive and…

By Pamela Anderson, MS, RN, APN-BC, CCRN, and Terri Townsend, MA, RN, CCRN-CMC, CVRN-BC Jan Smith, age 59, is admitted to the coronary intensive care unit with an acute inferior myocardial infarction (MI). Recently diagnosed with hypertension and hyperlipidemia, she smokes a pack and a half of cigarettes daily. She reports she has always been healthy and can’t believe she…

By: Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS Years ago, when I first started out in the wound care specialty, the only way to learn about new products and what was going on in the field was to “go to conference” (wound care conference). All year long, planning and excitement continued to build for our big trip. Not going…

By Cheryl Ericson, MS, RN, CCDS, CDIP Providers are often surprised at how pages upon pages of documentation in a patient’s health record can result in few reportable diagnosis and/or procedure codes, which often fail to capture the complexity of the patient’s condition. However, providers need to be aware of the implications of coding. As healthcare data become increasingly digital…

By Catherine R. Ratliff, PhD, APRN-BC, CWOCN, CFCN It’s estimated that about 70% of the 1 million ostomates in the United States and Canada will experience or have experienced stomal or peristomal complications. Peristomal complications are more common, although stomal complications (for example, retraction, stenosis, and mucocutaneous separation) can often contribute to peristomal problems by making it difficult to obtain…

By Nancy Morgan, RN, BSN, MBA, WOC, WCC, DWC, OMS Each issue, Apple Bites brings you a tool you can apply in your daily practice. The crusting procedure produces a dry surface and absorbs moisture from broken skin through an artificial scab that’s created by using skin barrier powder (stoma powder) and liquid polymer skin barrier. The crusting procedure is…

By Rosalyn S. Jordan, BSN, RN, MSc, CWOCN, WCC, and Sandra Phipps, BSN, RN, MBA, WCC Pressure-ulcer prevention and management guidelines recommend support-surface therapy to help prevent and treat pressure ulcers. Support surfaces include pads, mattresses, and cushions that redistribute pressure. Full cushions and cushion pads are considered therapeutic support surfaces if used to redistribute a patient’s pressure in a…

By Jeri Lundgren, BSN, RN, PHN, CWS, CWCN Prevention of pressure ulcers and skin breakdown begins with a comprehensive risk assessment. Most providers use a skin risk assessment tool, such as the Braden or Norton scale. While these tools have been validated to predict pressure ulcer development, their use alone isn’t considered a comprehensive assessment, and frequently the individual risk…