No matter your practice environment, you’ll likely encounter patients with wounds related to primary skin cancer at some point.

To learn more about primary skin cancer wounds, we spoke with Joni Brinker, MSN/MHA, RN, WCC, an Ohio-based consultant and clinical nurse educator with Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

She also spoke during a session at our Wild on Wounds (WOW) national conference, for an overview of the need-to-know fundamentals.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in humans, Brinker said. “Generally, skin cancers are seen in older patients, so if you’re working with the elderly such as in long-term care, you’ll likely see skin cancers.”

Providing wound care for hospice patients is an important aspect of delivering comprehensive, end-of-life care.

While some hospice services have wound care specialists on staff or access to on-call, contracted wound care services, others do not.

Hospice providers without wound experts on staff often try to manage patients’ wounds on their own, said Joni Brinker, MSN/MHA, RN, WCC.

Brinker is an Ohio-based consultant and clinical nurse educator with Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services of Eden Prairie, Minn.

They only summon a wound care specialist if a problem develops, she added.

If you’re a wound care clinician, you’re well-aware more research is needed on wound care and wound healing.

Locating evidence-based findings on wound healing from literature can be a difficult undertaking.

There is a great need for more research and evidence regarding wound healing not only because of its scarcity, but also because of the pervasiveness and cost of chronic wounds.