Being positive in a negative situation is not naïve. It’s leadership.
— Ralph S. Marston, Jr., author and
publisher of The Daily Motivator website
Clinicians may encounter many challenges and stressors in the workplace—long hours, rotating shifts, inadequate staffing, poor teamwork, and pressure to achieve higher performance levels in an emotionally and physically demanding field.
But hope exists. Positive psychology uses scientific understanding and interventions to help people achieve a more satisfactory life. Positive psychologists have shown that building positive emotions can change the way we approach and view our environment, helping us become healthier, happier, and more resilient and helping employees and teams become more productive and engaged. (more…)
We all lead busy lives, with demanding work schedules and home responsibilities that can thwart our best intentions. Although we know it’s our responsibility to stay abreast of changes in our field, we may feel overwhelmed when we try to make that happen.
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, what’s coming up. I discuss innovative new products, practice guidelines, resources, and tools from the last 12 months in skin, wound, and ostomy management. This article highlights the hottest topics from my 2015 Buzz Report. (more…)
Having the proper support surface for beds and wheelchairs is imperative in preventing pressure ulcers. “Pressure” ulcers are named that for a reason—pressure is the primary cause of interruption of blood flow to the tissue. Unfortunately, guidelines for support surface selection tend to make recommendations for the type of surface to use after a pressure ulcer has developed. Another factor that complicates matters is the development of deep-tissue injuries. These injuries start at the bone level, which means that often, tissue damage is extensive before we see visible signs and realize that the support surface we chose might not have been effective enough. (more…)
Mild compression diabetic socks safe and effective for lower extremity edema
Diabetic socks with mild compression can reduce lower extremity edema in patients with diabetes without adversely affecting arterial circulation, according to a randomized control trial presented at the American Diabetes Association 75th Scientific Sessions Conference. (more…)
SILVERSTREAM: Ionic Silver wound cleanser with menthol
ANIOSGEL 85 NPC: HYDROALCOHOLIC ANTISEPTIC GEL for skin and hands BLEACH WIPES 1: 10/1:50 : ready-to-use bleach wipes for surfaces disinfection
Angelini Pharma Inc. has one of the highest quality and most comprehensive product ranges in the chronic wound, infection control and dialysis healthcare market. Our mission is to meet our customers’ day-to-day needs with effective, reliable and high-quality products that are widely available and accessible. This goal is expressed through a clear vision: to be the physician’s first choice of product for their patients’ needs and well being. As a result of our specialists’ expertise and intensive applied research activities, efficient and closely coordinated manufacturing and distribution chain and marketing experience, Angelini Pharma Inc. has achieved excellence in our core business areas including wound care.
For more information, visit Angelini-US.com for more information.
Hy-Tape International
Hy-Tape International produces waterproof, zinc oxide-based adhesive tape. Patches and strips. Hy-Tape delivers its unique qualities and benefits in both critical care and everyday situations, when it counts most.
For more information, call 1.800.248.0101 or visit http://hytape.com.
Amerx Health Care, Inc.
Amerx Health Care is proud to introduce Helix3 Bioactive Collagen Matrix (CM) and Particle (CP) dressings containing 100% Type 1 native bovine collagen for effective wound management in all wound phases.
The Amerx product line also includes top rated AmeriGel Hydrogel Wound Dressing with Oakin® for sustained moist healing of dry wounds.
For more information, visit www.amerxHC.com or call 800-448-9599.
Coloplast
Coloplast develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions. Our business includes ostomy care, urology, continence care, and wound & skin care.
For more information, visit www.coloplast.us or call 800-788-0293
DM Systems Inc.
Combining unmatched clinical evidence with the comfort, convenience and variety that today’s healthcare marketplace demands, Heelift offloading boots prevent and treat heel pressure ulcers like no other. Joining the Heelift lineup this year is the new Heelift Glide Ultra and Heelift AFO Ultra, which have a new Ultra-Grip inner lining that provides our most comfortable boot ever while maintaining clinical superiority. Clinician Validated – Cost Performer.
Visit our Resource Center at http://www.heelift.com/heeliftresources.html for videos, sample protocols, clinical articles and more showing how Heelift Boots can lower your prevalence.
As wound care clinicians, we are trained—and expected—to help heal wounds in patients of any age and to achieve positive outcomes. Basic wound-healing principles apply to all patients, whatever their age or size. The specific anatomy and physiology of vulnerable pediatric patients, however, requires detailed wound care. Unfortunately, little evidence-based research exists to support and direct the care of pediatric patients with pressure ulcers. This article describes efforts to reduce pressure ulcers in pediatric patients at Driscoll Children’s Hospital (DCH) in Corpus Christi, Texas. (more…)
By Terry Eggenberger, PhD, RN, CNE, CNL; Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN; and Kathryn Keller, PhD, RN
Kate Summer, a wound care clinician in a urban hospital, is leading an initiative to reduce pressure ulcers. She knows from experience that more effective communication and collaborative planning by the interdisciplinary team managing these patients is crucial for reducing pressure ulcers. But doing this has been challenging for Kate.(more…)
The author describes how to overcome challenges to effective communication in the healthcare setting.
Accurate communication among healthcare professionals can spell the difference between patient safety and patient harm. Communication can be a challenge, especially when done electronically. With an e-mail or a text, you can’t hear the other person’s voice or see the body language, so it’s easy to misinterpret the words. (more…)
By Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS Editor-in-Chief
During a recent wound care presentation, an audience member jumped up to contradict the speaker. “That is incorrect,” she asserted. “The rules state….” When someone asked her what rules she was referring to, she replied, “The government’s rules.”
On the surface, that might seem like a straightforward answer. But when you stop to think about it, what government did she mean? Federal? State? Local? (more…)
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. (more…)
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 it like for them to be involved in a clinical study?
A clinical trial starts as an idea. As clinicians, we often use our critical-thinking skills to imagine a product or method of practice we think could be created or improved on to better meet our patients’ needs. The idea begins to grow and a series of events begins. (more…)
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…)
Angelini Pharma Inc.
