Helping Sandwich Generation nurses find a work-life balance

February 9, 2015February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

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, who were “sandwiched” between young kids, spouses, employers, and aging parents. While the underlying concept remains the same, over time the definition has expanded to include men and to encompass a larger age range, reflecting the trends of delayed childbearing, grown children moving back home, and elderly parents living longer. The societal phenomenon of the Sandwich Generation increasingly is linked to higher levels of stress and financial uncertainty, as well as such downstream effects as depression and greater health impacts in caregivers. (more…)

Palliative wound care: Part 1

February 9, 2015February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

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 problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.” (more…)

Make your patient-teaching idea a patented reality

November 20, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By Joy Hooper, BSN, RN, CWOCN, OMS

Have you ever had an idea for improving patient care that you wanted to market? You may have lacked confidence or know-how, as I once did. But one patient, a crafty idea, and a trip to Walmart put me on the path to becoming a successful nurse entrepreneur. (more…)

Using maggots in wound care: Part 2

November 20, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By Ronald A. Sherman, MD; Sharon Mendez, RN, CWS; and Catherine McMillan, BA

Note From the Editor: This is the second of two articles on maggot therapy. The first article appeared in our July/August 2014 issue, Read part 1 here.

Whether your practice is an acute-care setting, a clinic, home care, or elsewhere, maggot debridement therapy (MDT) can prove to be a useful tool in wound care. But setting up any new program can meet resistance—and if you seek to establish a maggot therapy program, expect to meet significant resistance. By arming yourself in advance, you can achieve your goal more easily. This article covers all the bases to help you get your maggot therapy program off the ground. (more…)

Case study: Bariatric patient with serious wounds and multiple complications

November 20, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By Hedy Badolato, RD, CSR, CNSC; Denise Dacey, RD, CDE; Kim Stevens, BSN, RN, CCRN; Jen Fox, BSN, RN, CCRN; Connie Johnson, MSN, RN, WCC, LLE, OMS, DAPWCA; Hatim Youssef, DO, FCCP; and Scott Sinner, MD, FACP

Despite the healthcare team’s best efforts, not all hospitalizations go smoothly. This article describes the case of an obese patient who underwent bariatric surgery. After a 62-day hospital stay, during which a multidisciplinary team collaborated to deliver the best care possible, he died. Although the outcome certainly wasn’t what we wanted, we’d like to share his story to raise awareness of the challenges of caring for bariatric patients. (more…)

Clinical Notes: Wound Photography, Lymphedema, GI Complaints

September 15, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

Wound photography may motivate patients

Having patients view photographs of their wounds can motivate them to become more involved in managing those wounds, according to a study in International Wound Journal, particularly when wounds are in difficult-to-see locations. (more…)

Using maggots in wound care: Part 1

July 21, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By: Ronald A. Sherman, MD; Sharon Mendez, RN, CWS; and Catherine McMillan, BA

Maggot therapy is the controlled, therapeutic application of maggots to a wound. Simple to use, it provides rapid, precise, safe, and powerful debridement. Many wound care professionals don’t provide maggot therapy (also called wound myiasis) because they lack training. But having maggot therapy technology available for patients adds to your capabilities as a wound care provider. (more…)

Eating better to help manage chronic stress

May 22, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

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 repair processes
priming of survival mechanisms (respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular) for immediate use
depletion of the body’s nutrients.

(more…)

Understanding therapeutic support surfaces

May 22, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

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 chair or wheelchair.

The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) defines support surfaces as “specialized devices for pressure redistribution designed for the management of tissue loads, microclimate, and/or other therapeutic functions.” These surfaces address the mechanical forces associated with skin and tissue injury, such as pressure, shear, friction, and excess moisture and heat. (See Clearing up the confusion.) (more…)

Achieving a work-life balance

March 25, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By Julie Boertje, MS, RN, LMFT, QMRP, and Liz Ferron, MSW, LICSW

Almost everyone agrees that achieving a work-life balance is a good thing. Without it, we risk long-term negative effects on our physical and mental health, our relationships, and our work performance. But many clinicians have a hard time achieving this balance due to job demands, erratic work schedules, or the inability to say no when someone asks for help.

The challenges of stress and burnout

Stress and job burnout can cause, contribute to, or result from a poor work-life balance. They disrupt our normal patterns, behaviors, and feelings.

Of course, no one can escape stress altogether. Sometimes stress is a good thing, but we need to be able to identify when it’s a problem. For many clinicians, stress springs from the desire to provide good service and care in all parts of their lives. This desire can create stress, especially when barriers exist to achieving it. (more…)

Clinical Notes: Low BMD, CKD, hypoglycemia, HBOT

March 25, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

Low BMD common after ostomy

Low bone mineral density (BMD) is common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease who have a stoma placed, according to “Frequency, risk factors, and adverse sequelae of bone loss in patients with ostomy for inflammatory bowel diseases,” published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. (more…)

It takes a village: Leading a wound team

March 25, 2014February 25, 2020 Wound Care Advisor

By Jennifer Oakley, BS, RN, WCC, DWC, OMS

I used to think I could do it alone. I took the wound care certification course, passed the certification exam, and took all of my new knowledge—and my new WCC credential—back to the long-term care facility where I worked. I was ready to change the world.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that I couldn’t change the complex world of wound care alone. I needed a team of specialists who could manage my patient’s troubles with nutrition, swallowing, activities of daily living, positioning, body image issues, and many other areas that required expertise I didn’t have. (more…)

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