Greet the new year by tapping into some new resources.
Free app for patients with Crohn’s Disease
GI Buddy is a free tool from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America that patients can use to stay on top of managing their Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms. Patients can record what they eat, track their treatment and well-being, and access detailed reports. Patients also can access a video of tips for using GI Buddy, which is available online and as an iPhone app. (more…)
Antibiotics and conservative surgery yield similar outcomes in patients with diabetic foot osteomyelitis
A study in Diabetes Care finds that antibiotics and surgery have similar outcomes related to rate of healing, time of healing, and short-term complications in patients who have neuropathic forefoot ulcers and osteomyelitis, but no ischemia or necrotizing soft-tissue infections.
By Jennifer Zinn, MSN, RN, CNS-BC, CNOR, and Vangela Swofford, BSN, RN, ASQ-CSSBB
For surgical patients, operative wound classification is crucial in predicting postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) and associated risks. Information about a patient’s wound typically is collected by circulating registered nurses (RNs) and documented at the end of every surgical procedure. (more…)
Aresolution is a serious decision or determination to do, or not to do, something. Traditionally, most New Year’s resolutions focus on self-improvement: losing weight, giving up a bad habit, exercising more, being a better person. Because most of us spend about half of our waking lives at work, perhaps our work lives should be the subject
of some of our resolutions. Here are a few work-related resolutions I’ve come up with: (more…)
Missed care, a relatively new concept in the medical community, refers to any part ofrequired patient care that is omitted of delayed. It’s not the same as a mistake or error, but like them, missed care can negatively affect patient outcomes.
I want to share the case of a patient admitted into home health care for wound care. The case includes several areas of missed care from many different different sources. (more…)
No matter where you work or who your distributors are, ensuring the patient has sufficient ostomy supplies can be a challenge. Whether you’re the nurse, the physician, the patient, or the family, not having supplies for treatments can heighten frustration with an already challenging situation, such as a new ostomy. Here’s how to reduce the chance of experiencing frustrations related to ostomy supplies. (more…)
Are you making connections that benefit your career? Are you comfortable starting a conversation at a networking session? Do you know how to exit a conversation gracefully when it’s time to move on?
These are questions and concerns many clinicians share. Career success takes more than clinical expertise, management savvy, and leadership skills. Networking can be the critical link to success. This article helps you improve your networking skills by focusing on what to do before, during, and after a networking opportunity. (more…)
Each issue, Apple Bites brings you a tool you can apply in your daily practice.
Description
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…)
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…)
Hospital pressure-ulcer comparison data not accurate
Performance scores for rates of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers might not be appropriate for comparing hospitals, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
With uncertainty over how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ultimately will affect operations, hospitals and other healthcare facilities are tightening up. In many areas, they’re laying off staff. In May, the healthcare industry lost 9,000 jobs—the worst month for the industry in a decade—and another 4,000 jobs were lost in July.
Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies are reducing reimbursements to care providers, meaning less money is coming in and healthcare facilities have less money to pay out. In my experience, when job cuts are needed, the specialty and subspecialty positions go first. Wound and ostomy care is a subspecialty, so we need to be prepared to protect our jobs—not only for ourselves but for our patients. (more…)
A pressure ulcer that a patient acquires in your facility or a patient’s existing pressure ulcer that worsens puts your organization at risk for regulatory citations as well as litigation. Unless you can prove the pressure ulcer was unavoidable, you could find yourself burdened with citations or fines, or could even end up in court.
In 2010, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) hosted a multidisciplinary conference to establish a consensus on whether all pressure ulcers are avoidable.
Hospital pressure-ulcer comparison data not accurate Performance scores for rates of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers might not be appropriate for comparing hospitals, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Hospital report cards for hospital-acquired pressure ulcers: How good are the grades?,” funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, analyzed 2 million all-payer administrative records from 448…
A variety of resources to end the year and take you into 2014. On the road again Give your patients with an ostomy this information from the Transportation Security Administration to help them navigate airport screening: • You can be screened without having to empty or expose your ostomy, but you need to let the officer conducting the screening know…
By Nancy Collins, PhD, RD, LD/N, FAPWCA, and Allison Schnitzer Nutrition is a critical factor in the wound healing process, with adequate protein intake essential to the successful healing of a wound. Patients with both chronic and acute wounds, such as postsurgical wounds or pressure ulcers, require an increased amount of protein to ensure complete and timely healing of their…
By Jeri Lundgren, BSN, RN, PHN, CWS, CWCN A pressure ulcer that a patient acquires in your facility or a patient’s existing pressure ulcer that worsens puts your organization at risk for regulatory citations as well as litigation. Unless you can prove the pressure ulcer was unavoidable, you could find yourself burdened with citations or fines, or could even end…
By Kathleen D. Pagana, PhD, RN Are you making connections that benefit your career? Are you comfortable starting a conversation at a networking session? Do you know how to exit a conversation gracefully when it’s time to move on? These are questions and concerns many clinicians share. Career success takes more than clinical expertise, management savvy, and leadership skills. Networking…
By Connie Johnson, BSN, RN, WCC, LLE, OMS, DAPWCA No matter where you work or who your distributors are, ensuring the patient has sufficient ostomy supplies can be a challenge. Whether you’re the nurse, the physician, the patient, or the family, not having supplies for treatments can heighten frustration with an already challenging situation, such as a new ostomy. Here’s…
by Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS With uncertainty over how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ultimately will affect operations, hospitals and other healthcare facilities are tightening up. In many areas, they’re laying off staff. In May, the healthcare industry lost 9,000 jobs—the worst month for the industry in a decade—and another 4,000 jobs were lost in July.…
Dermatologic difficulties: Skin problems in patients with chronic venous insufficiency and phlebolymphedema By Nancy Chatham, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, CWOCN, CWS; Lori Thomas, MS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA; and Michael Molyneaux, MD Skin problems associated with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and phlebolymphedema are common and often difficult to treat. The CVI cycle of skin and soft tissue injury from chronic disease processes can…
By 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…
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. Description 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…
