As wound care professionals, we’ve all experienced a time when we felt that our patient didn’t have the appropriate wound treatment orders. However, the physician, nurse practitioner, or other prescriber wouldn’t follow your recommendation. This situation is not only frustrating but can delay the healing process. This article explores why a prescriber might not follow your recommendation and offers solutions. It focuses on physicians, because I’ve had the most experience with them. (more…)
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Description
Xerosis, an abnormal dryness of the skin, is one of the most common skin conditions among patients with type 2 diabetes. While assessing for predictors of foot lesions in patients with diabetes, the authors of one study found that 82.1% of these patients had skin with dryness, cracks, or fissures. An unpublished survey of 105 consecutive patients with diabetes revealed that 75% had clinical manifestations of dry skin. (more…)
By Rosalyn S. Jordan, RN, BSN, MSc, CWOCN, WCC, OMS; and Judith LaDonna Burns, LPN, WCC, DFC
About 1 million people in the United States have either temporary or permanent stomas. A stoma is created surgically to divert fecal material or urine in patients with GI or urinary tract diseases or disorders.
A stoma has no sensory nerve endings and is insensitive to pain. Yet several complications can affect it, making accurate assessment crucial. These complications may occur during the immediate postoperative period, within 30 days after surgery, or later. Lifelong assessment by a healthcare provider with knowledge of ostomy surgeries and complications is important. (more…)
By Nancy Chatham, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, CCNS, CWOCN, CWS, and Lori Thomas, MS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA
An estimated 7 million people in the United States have venous disease, which can cause leg edema and ulcers. Approximately 2 to 3 million Americans suffer from secondary lymphedema. Marked by abnormal accumulation of protein-rich fluid in the interstitium, secondary lymphedema eventually can cause fibrosis and other tissue and skin changes. (more…)
The ability to understand or “read” lower-extremity redness in your patient is essential to determining its cause and providing effective treatment. Redness can occur in multiple conditions—hemosiderin staining, lipodermatosclerosis, venous dermatitis, chronic inflammation, cellulitis, and dependent rubor. This article provides clues to help you differentiate these conditions and identify the specific cause of your patient’s lower-extremity redness. (more…)
The Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires nursing homes to have an acceptable Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) plan within a year after the start of the QAPI regulation. While the implementation of this regulation may be a year out, now is the time to start applying its principles. Reducing pressure ulcer rates is a great program to target for a QAPI plan.
A team approach
If you decide to use pressure ulcers as your QAPI project, don’t take on your entire program at once. Break the program down into system subsets (for example, admission process, prevention program, and weekly rounds). Determining the status of your program in each subset—completed, needs improvement, or not completed—can help you prioritize which areas to target. It’s important you have support from leadership for your efforts.
I’ll use the example of the admission phase (ensuring that within the first 24 hours, skin and risk concerns are identified and a temporary plan of care is implemented) to illustrate a QAPI project. To address this area, a team was created, including representation from staff members involved with the admission process. The team then used the problem-solving model Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) to examine the process.
The first step in the PDSA cycle is to Plan. During this step, you:
• evaluate and analyze the current process to determine baseline data, which are used to measure progress
• identify system performance gaps
• determine the root cause of the performance gaps
• develop an action plan that identifies the goals, steps, responsible staff, and target dates.
In our example, the team determined that within the first 24 hours, skin inspections were being completed only 10% of the time. The root-cause analysis revealed that the admission nurses didn’t feel competent to document identified pressure ulcers or skin concerns, so they deferred it until the wound nurse was available. The team’s action plan included the following:
• Develop and educate all the facility nurses on how to complete and accurately document a skin inspection.
• Develop and implement a competency evaluation to assess the nurse’s ability to apply the knowledge at the bedside.
• Develop an ongoing plan to ensure all nurses receive this education during orientation and yearly thereafter.
The team also set the following goal:
By the end of the next quarter, 100% of admitted patients will have an accurate skin inspection completed within 24 hours of admission.
The second step of the PDSA cycle is Do. During this step, you implement and execute the plan, while documenting your observations and recording data.
In our example, the “Do” was to:
• develop and provide the skin inspection education and bedside competency evaluations
• develop an evaluation and tracking
system
• add the education to the orientation program
• add the education to the staff development calendar to be offered yearly.
The third step of the PDSA cycle is to Study: In this phase, you:
• reevaluate and analyze the system
• compare the results with the baseline data and predictions
• summarize what was learned and accomplished and what needs to be improved
• determine if another PDSA cycle is
necessary to continue to improve the system.
Once all staff had been properly educated and competency testing completed, an analysis of the rate and accuracy of the admission skin inspections done within 24 hours of admission was completed. It was found that 100% of the patients admitted had a complete skin inspection done within 24 hours. However, not all the nurses could accurately stage pressure ulcers, so it was determined that the system needed improvement to ensure accurate assessments.
The last step of the PDSA cycle is to Act. In this step, you:
• determine what changes need to be made
• modify the plan to continue to improve the system
• repeat the PDSA cycle as necessary.
In our example, the team determined the nurses needed more guidance and education on staging of pressure ulcers. Therefore, a new PDSA cycle was set to ensure the nurses are competent in this area.
Benefits for staff and patients
It may be difficult to start the QAPI project and at times the process may be stressful, but keep in mind that a successful pressure ulcer QAPI project can improve not only the quality of life and care of your patients but also morale and team building for your staff. n
Jeri Lundgren is director of clinical services at Pathway Health in Minnesota. She has beenspecializing in wound prevention and management since 1990.
To begin appropriate treatment for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), clinicians must be able to make the correct diagnosis. Part 1 (published in the March-April edition) described CVI and its presentation. This article provides details of the CVI diagnosis (including the differential diagnosis from other diseases), disease classification to help assess the extent of CVI, diagnostic studies used to diagnose CVI, and various treatment options to “rescue” the patient from CVI. (more…)
One of the worst fears of a wound care clinician is inadvertently compressing a leg with critical limb ischemia—a condition marked by barely enough blood flow to sustain tissue life. Compression (as well as infection or injury) could lead to necrosis, the need for amputation, or even death. The gold standard of practice is to obtain an ankle-brachial index (ABI) before applying compression. However, recent research and expert opinion indicate an elevated or normal ABI is deceptive in patients with advanced diabetes. What’s worse, in the diabetic foot, skin may die from chronic capillary ischemia even when total blood perfusion is normal. For information on how to perform an ABI and interpret results, click on this link. (more…)
An Unna boot is a special dressing of inelastic gauze impregnated with zinc, glycerin, or calamine that becomes rigid when it dries. It is used for managing venous leg ulcers and lymphedema in patients who are ambulatory. When the patient walks, the rigid dressing restricts outward movement of the calf muscle, which directs the contraction force inward and improves the calf-muscle pumping action, thereby improving venous flow. An Unna boot does not provide compression and is contraindicated for arterial insufficiency. (more…)
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is the most common cause of lower extremity wounds. The venous tree is defective, incapable of moving all the blood from the lower extremity back to the heart. This causes pooling of blood and intravascular fluid at the lowest gravitational point of the body—the ankle.
This article has two parts. Part 1 enhances your understanding of the disease and its clinical presentation. Part 2, which will appear in a later issue, explores the differential diagnosis of similar common diseases, the role that coexisting peripheral artery disease (PAD) may play, disease classification of venous insufficiency, and a general approach to therapy.
The most common form of lower extremity vascular disease, CVI affects 6 to 7 million people in the United States. Incidence increases with age and other risk factors. One study of 600 patients with CVI ulcers revealed that 50% had these ulcers for 7 to 9 months, 8% to 34% had them for more than 5 years, and 75% had recurrent ulcers.
Thrombotic complications of CVI include thrombophlebitis, which may range from superficial to extensive. If the thrombophlebitis extends up toward the common femoral vein leaving the leg, proximal ligation may be needed to prevent clot extension or embolization.
Understanding normal anatomy and physiology
Lower extremity veins flow horizontally from the superficial veins to the perforating veins and then into the deep veins. Normally, overall venous blood flows vertically against gravity from the foot and ankle upward toward the inferior vena cava (IVC). This antigravity flow toward the IVC results from muscular contraction around nonobstructed veins and one-way valves that close as blood passes them. These valves prevent abnormal backward blood flow toward the foot and ankle region.
The lower extremities have four types of veins. Superficial veins are located within the subcutaneous tissue between the dermis and muscular fascia. Examples are the greater and lesser (smaller) saphenous veins. Perforating veins connect the superficial veins to the deep veins of the leg. The deep veins are located below the muscular fascia. The communicating veins connect veins within the same system.
The greater saphenous vein is on the leg’s medial (inner) side. It originates from the dorsal veins on top of the foot and eventually drains into the common femoral vein in the groin region. By way of perforating veins, the greater saphenous vein drains into the deep venous system of both the calf and thigh.
The lesser saphenous vein is situated on the lateral (outer) side of the leg and originates from the lateral foot veins. As it ascends, it drains into the deep system at the popliteal vein behind the knee. Communicating veins connect the greater saphenous vein medially and the lesser saphenous vein laterally.
Intramuscular veins are the deep veins within the muscle itself, while the intermuscular veins are located between the muscle groups. The intermuscular veins are more important than other veins in development of chronic venous disease. Below the knee, the intermuscular veins are paired and take on the name of the artery they accompany—for example, paired anterior tibial, paired posterior tibial, and paired peroneal veins. Eventually, these veins form the popliteal vein behind the knee, which ultimately drains into the femoral vein of the groin.
As the common femoral vein travels below the inguinal ligament of the groin, it’s called the external iliac vein. Eventually, it becomes the common iliac vein, which drains directly into the IVC.
Pathophysiology
Abnormally elevated venous pressure stems from the leg’s inability to adequately drain blood from the leg toward the heart. Blood drainage from the leg requires the muscular pumping action of the leg onto the veins, which pump blood from the leg toward the heart as well as from the superficial veins toward the deep veins. Functioning one-way valves within the veins close when blood passes them, preventing blood from flowing backward toward the ankle. This process resembles what happens when you climb a ladder with intact rungs: As you step up from one rung to the next, you’re able to ascend.
CVI and the “broken rung” analogy
If the one-way valves are damaged or incompetent, the “broken rung” situation occurs. Think how hard it would be to climb a ladder with broken rungs: You might be able to ascend the ladder, but probably you would fall downward off the ladder due to the defective, broken rungs.
Normally, one-way valves ensure that blood flows from the lower leg toward the IVC and that the superficial venous system flows toward the deep venous system. The venous system must be patent (open) so blood flowing from the leg can flow upward toward the IVC. Blockage of a vein may result from an acute thrombosis (clot) in the superficial or deep systems. With time, blood may be rerouted around an obstructed vein. If the acute thrombosis involves one or more of the one-way valves, as the obstructing thrombosis opens up within the vein’s lumen, permanent valvular damage may occur, leading to post-thrombotic syndrome—a form of CVI.
CVI may result from an abnormality of any or all of the processes needed to drain blood from the leg—poor pumping action of the leg muscles, damage to the one-way valves, and blockage in the venous system. CVI commonly causes venous hypertension due to reversal of blood flow in the leg. Such abnormal flow may cause one or more of the following local effects:
leg swelling
tissue anoxia, inflammation, or necrosis
subcutaneous fibrosis
Compromised flow of venous blood or lymphatic fluid from the extremity.
“Water balloon” analogy
The effect of elevated venous pressure or hypertension is worst at the lowest gravitational point (around the ankle). Pooling of blood and intravascular fluid around the ankle causes a “water balloon” effect. A balloon inflated with water has a thin, easily traumatized wall. When it bursts, a large volume of fluid drains out. Due to its thicker wall, a collapsed balloon that contains less fluid is more difficult to break than one distended with water.
In a leg with CVI, subcutaneous fluid that builds up requires a weaker force to break the skin and ulcerate than does a nondistended leg with less fluid. This principle is the basis for compression therapy in treating and preventing CVI ulcers.
Effects of elevated venous pressure or hypertension
Increased pressure in the venous system causes:
abnormally high pressure in the superficial veins—60 to 90 mm Hg, compared to the normal pressure of 20 to 30 mm Hg
dilation and distortion of leg veins, because blood refluxes abnormally away from the heart and toward the lower leg and may move from the deep venous system into the superficial veins.
Abnormal vein swelling from elevated pressure in itself may impair an already abnormally functioning one-way valve. For instance, the valve may become more displaced due to the increase in intraluminal fluid, which may in turn worsen hypertension and cause an increase in leg swelling. Increased pressure from swollen veins also may dilate the capillary beds that drain into the veins; this may cause leakage of fluid and red blood cells from capillaries into the interstitial space, exacerbating leg swelling. Also, increased venous pressure may cause fibrinogen to leak from the intravascular plasma into the interstitial space. This leakage may create a fibrin cuff around the capillary bed, which may decrease the amount of oxygen entering the epidermis, increase tissue hypoxia, trigger leukocyte activation, increase capillary permeability, and cause local inflammation. These changes may lead to ulceration, lipodermatosclerosis, or both.
Visible changes may include dilated superficial veins, hemosiderin staining due to blood leakage from the venous tree, atrophie blanche, and lipodermatosclerosis. (See CVI glossary by clicking the PDF icon above.) Both atrophie blanche and lipodermatosclerosis result from local tissue scarring secondary to an inflammatory reaction of the leg distended with fluid.
Lipodermatosclerosis refers to scarring of subcutaneous tissue in severe venous insufficiency. Induration is associated with inflammation, which can cause the skin to bind to the subcutaneous tissue, causing narrowing of leg circumference. Lymphatic flow from the leg also may become compromised and inhibited in severe venous hypertension, causing additional leg swelling.
Patient history
In a patient with known or suspected CVI, a thorough history may lead to a working diagnosis. Be sure to ask the patient these questions:
Do you have pain?
Is your pain worse toward the end of the day?
Is the pain relieved with leg elevation at night?
Is it relieved with leg elevation during the day?
Do you have leg pain that awakens you at night?
How would you describe the pain?
Does the skin on your leg feel tight or irritated?
Have you noticed visible changes of your leg?
Do you have a leg ulcer?
Also determine if the patient has comorbidities that may exacerbate CVI, including PAD, renal failure, venous thrombosis, lymphedema, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or malnutrition. (See CVI risk factors by clicking the PDF icon above .)
Common CVI symptoms
Approximately 20% of CVI patients have symptoms of the disease without physical findings. These symptoms may include:
tired, “heavy” legs that feel worse toward the end of the day
discomfort that worsens on standing
legs that feel best in the morning after sleeping or after the legs have been
elevated during the day.
Although patients may report leg discomfort, the history indicates that it doesn’t awaken them at night. Be aware that discomfort from CVI differs from that caused by PAD. With PAD, patients may report pain on exercise (claudication), pain with elevation (nocturnal pain), or constant pain (resting pain).
Signs of CVI (with or without ulcers) include:
leg swelling (seen in 25% to 75% of patients)
skin changes (such as hemosiderin staining or dermatitis)
telangiectasia, reticular veins, or both; while these are the most common signs, they represent an overall less severe finding
varicose veins with or without bleeding, occurring in one-third of patients with CVI.
Venous ulcers
Venous ulcers are the most common type of lower extremity ulcer. They’re commonly found on the medial aspect of the lower extremity, from the ankle to the more proximal calf area. Usually, they arise along the course of the greater saphenous vein, but also may be lateral and may occur at multiple locations. They aren’t found above the knee or on the forefoot. Venous ulcers are shallower than arterial ulcers and have considerable exudate consistent with drainage from a ruptured water balloon. They may extend completely around the leg.
CVI: From a heavy sensation to visible changes
In patients with CVI, blood flows within a lower extremity in an abnormal, reverse direction, causing build-up of blood and intravascular fluid around the ankle. Initially, this may cause only a sensation of heavy legs toward the end of the day, with no visible changes. Eventually, it may lead to venous ulcers or other visible changes. This abnormal blood flow results from dysfunction of the normal mechanisms that drain blood from the leg against gravity into the IVC.
Sardina D. Skin and Wound Management Course; Seminar Workbook. Wound Care Education Institute; 2011:92-112.
Donald A. Wollheim is a practicing wound care physician in southeastern Wisconsin. He also is an instructor for Wound Care Education Institute and Madison College. He serves on the Editorial Board for Wound Care Advisor.
At one time or another, all wound care professionals encounter a chronic wound, defined as a wound that fails to heal in an orderly and timely manner. Globally, about 67 million people (1% to 5% of the world’s population) suffer chronic wounds. In the United States, chronic wounds affect 6.5 million people and cost more than $25 billion annually to treat. (more…)
Every year, all long-term care (LTC) facilities funded by Medicare or Medicaid are inspected to ensure they are in compliance with federal and state regulations. The regulations are broken down into so-called F-Tags to help track data. The F-Tag designated for review of the facility’s pressure-ulcer prevention and management program is F314. If a resident develops a pressure ulcer in the facility or if a pressure ulcer worsens while the resident is in the facility (even
if the resident was admitted with the pressure ulcer), the facility could face a citation under F314. Such a citation, if not remedied, could lead to financial penalties, Medicare and Medicaid fund stoppages, or even closing of the facility.
When preparing for this annual survey, many providers focus on the charts of residents with wounds. However, many citations are triggered from residents without wounds. For example, a surveyor may observe a resident lying in a position longer than the plan of care indicates. So when preparing for a survey, staff should always look at the big picture—wound prevention and management.
The following items should be audited to help ensure your documentation is compliant with the F314 tag:
1. The risk assessment (such as with the Braden risk assessment tool) should be current and accurate. In LTC facilities, the risk assessment should be done:
• on admission or readmission
• weekly for the first 4 weeks after
admission
• with a change in the resident’s condition
• quarterly or annually with the minimum data set (MDS).
2. The plan of care should be audited to ensure that:
• all risk factors identified from the risk assessment, MDS, care area assessment, resident history, physical examination, and overall chart review are pulled forward and listed on the skin integrity plan of care
• the plan of care identifies correlating interventions to help stabilize or modify individual risk factors
• staff have been interviewed and have physically observed the resident to ensure all risk factors and interventions provided are reflected accurately on the plan of care.
3. Nursing-assistant assignment sheets should match the information on the plan of care.
4. Head-to-toe skin checks are performed weekly on all residents by licensed staff.
5. Wound assessments are done at least every 7 days, are complete and accurate, and include evaluation of wound progress.
6. Documentation reflects that the physician or nurse practitioner, family, and interdisciplinary team are notified when a wound is discovered, when no progress has occurred in 2 weeks, when the resident declines, and when the wound heals.
7. The treatment sheet order is transcribed accurately and treatment is being provided as prescribed.
Other items to audit
Also audit these items to prepare for the survey:
• resident turning and repositioning
• incontinence care
• use of supplies, equipment, and devices (such as heel lift boots, wheelchair cushions, and powered mattresses) to ensure these are functioning properly and are in good condition
• dressing-change technique
• storage of wound care supplies to ensure they meet infection-control guidelines and haven’t expired.
Ideally, the wound care nurse or nurse manager should set aside a designated number of hours every month to audit charts and observe hands-on care. This person also can use weekly wound rounds to monitor dressing changes, nurses’ ability to assess wounds, and equipment and dressing supplies.
Jeri Lundgren is director of clinical services at Pathway Health in Minnesota. She has been specializing in wound prevention and management since 1990.
