What to do when someone pushes your buttons

By Laura L. Barry, MBA, MMsc, and Maureen Sirois, MSN, RN, CEN, ANP

Why is it that some things don’t bother us, while other things catapult us from an emotional 0 to 60 mph in a heartbeat? We all know what it feels like when someone says or does something that gets our juices flowing. We feel it in our bodies, emotions, and mood. We have an overwhelming urge to react. We may express it in words at the time or take our frustrations out later on someone else. It just doesn’t feel good. We want to explode, set the record straight. (more…)

Developing a successful program for wound care in the home

By Stanley A. Rynkiewicz III, MSN, RN, WCC, DWC, CCS

Developing a successful wound care program requires a strong commitment and a willingness to learn. Our experience with creating such a program at Deer Meadows Home Health and Support Services, LLC (DMHHSS), a nonprofit home-care facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, may help others build a similar wound care program and reap the rewards of a more confident staff as well as improved patient outcomes. (more…)

By David L. Johnson, NHA, RAC-CT

As a senior quality improvement specialist with IPRO, the Quality Improvement Organization for New York State over the past 11 years, I’ve been tasked with helping skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) embrace the process of continuous quality improvement. A necessary component of this effort has been to collect, understand, and analyze timely and accurate data. This article discusses a free tool I developed to help SNFs track their data related to pressure ulcers and focus their quality improvement efforts for the greatest impact. (more…)

Building an effective pressure ulcer prevention program

By Jeri Lundgren, BSN, RN, PHN, CWS, CWCN

As a wound care nurse, do you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders when trying to implement a pressure ulcer prevention program? Many staff members think it’s up to the wound care nurse alone to implement the program. However, a successful program requires involvement from all staff and is a 24/7 endeavor. Here’s how to do it. (more…)

Linear wound measurement basics

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.

Measurement of wounds is an important component of wound assessment and provides baseline measurements, enables monitoring of healing rates, and helps distinguish among wounds that are static, deteriorating, or improving. All alterations in skin integrity, including those caused by ulcers, venous ulcers, arterial ulcers, neuropathic ulcers, incision lines, grafts, donor sites, abscesses, and rashes should be measured when they’re discovered and at intervals thereafter, based on institutional policy. (more…)

Radiation and lymphedema

Radiation therapy doesn’t increase the incidence of lymphedema in patients with node-negative breast cancer, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 56th Annual Meeting held this fall. (more…)

When should we take “No” for an answer?

By: Donna Sardina, RN, MHA, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS

Have you ever had a patient yell “Get out of my room!” or “Don’t touch me! I don’t want to be turned”? How about “No! Don’t put those compression stockings on my legs!” or “No, I’m not going to wear those ugly orthopedic shoes!” or “No way. I can’t stay in bed. I have to go to Bingo!”?

As clinicians, our first instinct usually is paternalistic, as if we’re the patient’s parent who knows what’s best for our child. We think, “Sorry, but you have to do this. It’s for your own good.” And we convey that idea to the patient. (more…)

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

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…)

Ultrasound Accelerates Skin Graft Healing

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285898.php

Simple test may predict surgical wound healing complications

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141016132852.htm

Renaissance and the New Golden Rule

by Dr. Michael Miller

To paraphrase Carol Ann from the Movie Poltergeist…”He’s Baaaaaaaaack” ! At the end of this past May, I had a sudden and disappointing parting of the ways from my prior blog host when I discovered the newest version of the Golden Rule…those that have the gold, make the rules. Is it possible to be too opinionated? Does the textual asbestos statement at the bottom of almost every web page regarding the dissociation between the hosts and the writer’s opinions really have any meaning? I am nonetheless extremely grateful to my prior hosts for allowing me the bytes to educate, illuminate and aggravate. The silent majority, mostly practitioners and patients who appreciate the inside story versus those with the gold (who don’t mind independent thinking, as long as it comes in their flavor of Kool-Aid) have both spoken.

But as PT Barnum said “’There’s no such thing as bad publicity’ and so, recognizing that more and more people are looking for a shoulder to cry on, a voice of reason, and the company that misery loves, “Ramblings of an Itinerant Wound Care Guy” re-emerges with this blog. I want to assure you that I have always relished comments and criticism both of which are proudly posted along with the blog, as long as you agree with me.

But enough fanfare and bravado and back to the bastion of wound dabblers anonymous. My three-month involuntary hiatus did little to quench the fires of indignation regarding medicine in general and wound care in particular. I had the great honor recently of meeting one of the creators of the wound care protocols for a large wound management organization. My initial disdain at our handshake turned to admiration as he explained with great pride, how the guidelines were created for diagnosis and care at their facilities. His background in wound care was impressive and his passion for care was the purest. However, in keeping with the mantra that “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”, he related how his master plan had become intellectual oatmeal as the docs and nurses reverted to prior, Neanderthal practices. One of the major flies in his ointment was the fact that at least one facility under management had a huge number of men over 70 in treatment including hyperbarics with 100% having the diagnosis of venous insufficiency. Not a single mention of an arterial or diabetic etiology. When he brought it to the medical directors attention, the response was simply that was what had been diagnosed. He has since gone on to what he hopes are greener pastures. As far as the pitiful remnants of the wound caregivers he left behind, we agreed that they all deserve to be patient in their own centers.

To my prior readers who once again have elected to join in on the cacophony of intolerance or a newbie who on the advice of a friend decided to see what that crazy guy is writing about this month, I offer you my thanks and a promise to ignore the golden rule whenever and wherever I can. And by the way…the opinions of the statements made in this blog do not reflect those of the web site, the publisher or the editors…Got it.

Until we ramble next time.

Click here to return to Dr. Miller’s Ramblings of an Itinerant Wound Care Guy Blog page.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Wound Care Advisor. All clinical recommendations are intended to assist with determining the appropriate wound therapy for the patient. Responsibility for final decisions and actions related to care of specific patients shall remain the obligation of the institution, its staff, and the patients’ attending physicians. Nothing in this information shall be deemed to constitute the providing of medical care or the diagnosis of any medical condition. Individuals should contact their healthcare providers for medical-related information.

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Tag: WCA