December 9, 2022
Nutrition in wound healing is so much more important than the attention we often give it, and conversations surrounding nutrition should take place with patients and their caregivers at the beginning of treatment.
September 23, 2022
A colleague of mine once stated there are basically two fundamentals to healing wounds: a healthy patient and a healthy wound environment. Once those are accomplished, topical treatments will not make that big of a difference.
April 7, 2020
As wound care clinicians, you need to think how COVID-19 will impact care for your patients in hospitals, nursing homes and at home.
March 26, 2019
Nutrition for wound healing includes the right amount of calories, vitamins, minerals and nutrients to maintain skin integrity and promote healing.
May 11, 2018
Patients with wounds usually have multiple medical problems, and often the other diagnoses make meeting the nutritional plan difficult, such as when the wound patient also has cancer. I often discuss the increased nutritional requirements to fuel wound healing. Patients need extra calories and protein each day, plus an adequate amount of fluids, the right […]
April 6, 2018
The use of targeted amino acids is becoming more common as a strategy to help heal a variety of conditions, including wounds, because of the role key amino acids have in rebuilding tissue. Chronic wounds, meaning those that have not healed in 12 weeks, affect approximately 6.5 million patients in the United States annually at […]
February 9, 2018
Whether you are looking to increase your wound care nutrition knowledge or advance your career, a new wound care certification course for Registered Dietitians (RD) and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) will help you meet your goals, while improving outcomes for your wound care patients. I often get funny reactions when I tell people I specialize […]
October 13, 2017
Chronic wounds impact 15% of Medicare beneficiaries at an estimated annual cost of $28 billion to $32 billion, making nutrition a seemingly cost-effective purchase. Did you ever wonder how much it really costs to treat and heal various wounds? Patients, family members, and healthcare team members often complain to me that $5/day for nutrition therapy […]
September 8, 2017
Obesity presents challenges to wound healing, but with knowledge and appropriate care interventions, we can provide optimal conditions to support the best possible outcome for every patient, no matter what size. The US obesity epidemic reached a new all-time high in 2016, according to newly released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.1 Every single […]
July 14, 2017
Nutrition is frequently conjoined to wound care lawsuits because patients often lose weight, so it is important to thoroughly document nutrition interventions and education. Most pressure injury lawsuits begin as just that—a lawsuit initiated because of an acquired pressure injury. Usually the wound in question never healed to closure, became infected, led to an amputation, […]