More results...
Practical Issues in Wound, Skin and Ostomy Management
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…)
Read More
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.
Transparent film dressings are thin sheets of transparent polyurethane (polymer) coated with an adhesive. These dressings are available in a variety of sizes and shapes. (more…)
Read MoreBe sure you’re familiar with these valuable resources for you and your patients.
Fight Colorectal Cancer has a comprehensive resource library for patients, including:
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 most frequently used on denuded peristomal skin to create a dry surface for adherence of an ostomy pouching system while protecting the peristomal skin from effluent and adhesives. Crusting can increase pouching-system wear time, resulting in fewer pouch changes and less disruption to irritated peristomal skin. The crusting procedure can also be used for other denuded partial-thickness weeping wounds caused by moisture. (more…)
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 has had a heart attack. (Note: Name is fictitious.)
On physical exam, the cardiologist finds decreased femoral pulses bilaterally and recommends immediate cardiac catheterization. Fortunately, primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is readily available at this hospital. PCI is the preferred reperfusion method when it can be provided by skilled cardiologists in a timely manner. (more…)
Read MoreAccording 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 of all sizes. (more…)
Read MoreBy 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…)
Read More
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.
Exudate (drainage), a liquid produced by the body in response to tissue damage, is present in wounds as they heal. It consists of fluid that has leaked out of blood vessels and closely resembles blood plasma. Exudate can result also from conditions that cause edema, such as inflammation, immobility, limb dependence, and venous and lymphatic insufficiency.
(more…)
By Kulbir Dhillon, MSN, FNP, APNP, WCC
Venous disease, which encompasses all conditions caused by or related to diseased or abnormal veins, affects about 15% of adults. When mild, it rarely poses a problem, but as it worsens, it can become crippling and chronic.
Chronic venous disease often is overlooked by primary and cardiovascular care providers, who underestimate its magnitude and impact. Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) causes hypertension in the venous system of the legs, leading to various pathologies that involve pain, swelling, edema, skin changes, stasis dermatitis, and ulcers. An estimated 1% of the U.S. population suffers from venous stasis ulcers (VSUs). Causes of VSUs include inflammatory processes resulting in leukocyte activation, endothelial damage, platelet aggregation, and intracellular edema. Preventing VSUs is the most important aspect of CVI management. (more…)
Read More
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.
Hydrated polymer (hydrogel) dressings, originally developed in the 1950s, contain 90% water in a gel base, which helps regulate fluid exchange from the wound surface. Hydrogel dressing are usually clear or translucent and vary in viscosity or thickness. They’re available in three forms: (more…)
Read MoreBy Robyn Bjork, MPT, WCC, CWS, CLT-LANA
Margery Smith, age 82, arrives at your wound clinic for treatment of a shallow, painful ulcer on the lateral aspect of her right lower leg. On examination, you notice weeping and redness of both lower legs, 3+ pitting edema, several blisters, and considerable denudement of the periwound skin. She is wearing tennis shoes and her feet have relatively little edema, but her ankles are bulging over the edges of her shoes; both socks are wet. Stemmer’s sign is negative. The wound on the right leg is draining copious amounts of clear fluid; it’s dressed with an alginate, which is secured with conforming roll gauze. No signs or symptoms of infection are present. (more…)
Read More