6 Highlights From Wild on Wounds’ BUZZ Report You Don’t Want to Miss

wounds

If you missed our virtual Wild on Wounds Conference (WOW) 2020 and the much-loved WOW BUZZ Report – there’s always next year.

In the meantime, we spoke with Nancy Morgan, RN, BSN, MBA, WOC, DWC, OMS, co-founder of the Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI) and WOW.

She shared six of the many game-changing wound care products featured in this year’s Buzz Report that came out this past year. 

In case you’re not familiar with the BUZZ Report, it’s always discussed during the first session each day of every WOW conference. It provides you with an easy way to stay current on the latest wound care trends and best practices.

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Hospice Wound Care: 3 Strategies for Better Patient Outcomes

hospice wound care

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.

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Non-Weightbearing vs. Offloading: Is There a Difference?

offloading

Have you ever been confused about the difference between non-weightbearing and offloading?  

These wound care terms are often used when referring to the treatment of diabetic and neuropathic ulcers and pressure injuries.

Both can be critical in the successful healing of either type of wound. However, they are not the same thing.

Let’s begin with defining the terms.

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Wound Healing Research: The Need for Grants Is Widespread

wound healing research

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.

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Learn When You Should Apply a Hydrogel Dressing to a Wound

hydrogel dressings

As wound care clinicians, you must be aware of the different types of wound care dressings, such as hydrogel dressings.

A hydrogel dressing — also known as hydrated polymer dressings — consist of 90% water in a gel base that regulate fluid exchange from the wound surface.

It absorbs small amounts of fluid and donating moisture to the wound bed.

These dressings are available in sheets, amorphous gels, or impregnated gauze and packing strips.

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Wound Treatment: 3 Questions to Help You Determine Appropriate Care

wound treatment

How many times have you wondered, or questioned, whether an ordered wound treatment was appropriate? 

I would not be not surprised if you said, “More often than I would like.” Unfortunately, that is the reality for wound care specialists today.

According to a 2018 BMJ Open article, nurse researchers found an overuse of wound treatments with limited evidence and low value. They also found an underuse of evidence-based treatments.

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Hand Hygiene Tips for Providing Wound Care in Challenging Settings

hand hygiene

Hand hygiene is nothing new in healthcare. It has become increasingly important throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  

As a wound care nurse, you know hand hygiene is essential in preventing infections when providing patient care, as we discuss in the blog post “The Case of the Dirty Wound Care Clinic.”

If you provide care outside of the traditional clinical settings, such as a hospital or a wound care clinic, you know how difficult it can be to maintain good hand hygiene. Without running water, gloves or sanitizer, the risk of infection or its spread is evident. 

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Explore When to Use a Collagen Wound Dressing on Your Patients

collagen wound dressing

As wound care certified (WCC) clinicians, you should be aware of the types of dressings available to treat patients in your care.

Wound care dressings come in various shapes, sizes and have indications for their use, including collagen wound dressings.

Let’s explore which types of dressings are focused on collagen.

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Wound Temperature Can Affect the Wound Healing Process

wound temperature

A patient’s core body temperature must be above 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit and below 107.6 for wound healing to occur.

The loss of moisture from any surface by evaporation is accompanied by cooling of the surface. So, as wound tissues lose moisture, a cooling effect occurs resulting in lower wound temperature.

Even a decrease of only 2 degrees Celsius is sufficient enough to affect the biological healing process of your patients. This is because cells and enzymes function optimally only at normal body temperature.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Learn the Fundamentals in Wound Care

hyperbaric oxygen therapy

When you hear the words hyperbaric oxygen, you probably think of a troubled scuba diver with decompression sickness in need of immediate live-saving medical care.

But hyperbaric oxygen therapy — HBOT for short — is also a go-to therapy routinely used in wound care.

To learn the basics about HBOT, we spoke with wound care experts in the U.S. and abroad.

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