Why continued competence in wound care nursing matters

April 29th, 2020
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continued competence

Continued competence in nursing is not a new idea. It has been the focus of professional nursing practice at all levels.

You can find an abundance of information, research and articles on continued competence, whether the topic is:

  • How continued competence is measured
  • How it can be improved
  • How best to increase and maintain competence

One definition of competence is the quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgment, skill or strength (as for a particular duty or in a particular respect).

Another definition describes competence as the quality of being competent — adequacy; the possession of required skill, judgment, qualification or capacity.

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Posted in Wound care litigation | Comments Off on Why continued competence in wound care nursing matters

How to teach patients to manage wound care at home during COVID-19

April 20th, 2020
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wound care at home

Some wound care centers are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More patients are opting to perform their own wound care at home because they are concerned about venturing out and risking exposure to the virus.

We spoke with three wound care professionals to learn more about care provided in the home and teaching patients and families to care for wounds until life returns to normal. 

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Posted in Infection, Wound and skin management, Wound assessment, Wound care education | Comments Off on How to teach patients to manage wound care at home during COVID-19

Wipe Out Wounds Tour explores updated NPIAP Guideline

April 15th, 2020
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NPIAP Guideline

NOTE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns for the health and safety of our attendees, sponsors and instructors, the 2020 Wipeout Wounds Tour is being rescheduled for 2021, with our first sessions scheduled for the spring. To view current dates and information on the 2021 Wipeout Wounds National Conference Tour, please click here.

Are you aware of the new pressure injury guidelines?

The National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) and its partner organizations released the 2019 Clinical Practice Guideline for the prevention and treatment of pressure injuries.

The new NPIAP Guideline consists of a 409-page document. As a wound care clinician, you’ll be expected to integrate these current standards of care and pressure injury guidelines into your practice.

Donna Sardina, MHA, RN, WCC, CWCMS, DWC, OMS, co-founder of the Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI) and the Wild on Wounds (WOW) Conference, shared some highlights of the new guideline that you should know.

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Posted in Pressure injury, Wound and skin management, Wound assessment | Comments Off on Wipe Out Wounds Tour explores updated NPIAP Guideline

COVID-19 pandemic: The potential impact on wound care

April 7th, 2020
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COVID-19

COVID-19 is making quite a stir in our society at large.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and many countries are being affected, some more severely than others. There is no doubt this viral outbreak is serious.

We have enough data to know the elderly and individuals with one or more significant health issues (diabetes, immunosuppression and/or upper respiratory comorbidities) are at the highest risk for serious illness and death.

What do you as wound care clinicians need to think about when managing your patients in hospitals, nursing homes and home care?

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Posted in Nutrition, Wound and skin management, Wound assessment | Comments Off on COVID-19 pandemic: The potential impact on wound care

An overview of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and wound care

April 1st, 2020
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Most wound care clinicians see wounds related to peripheral artery disease (PAD) on a frequent if not daily basis.

So let’s learn about PAD’s prevalence, understand the different ways it presents and best practices for managing it.

We spoke with Donald Wollheim, MD, FAPWCA, WCC, DWC, a board-certified surgeon of the American Board of Surgery, to get his insight on PAD.

With 25 years of experience in general/vascular surgery and 13 years as a wound care specialist, educator and case reviewer, Wollheim also is a clinical instructor for our Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI).

“From a wound care clinician’s point of view, it is critical to have good to excellent, oxygenated, arterial blood providing the tissues of the lower extremity to heal any wound of the leg,” Wollheim said.

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Posted in Ankle Brachial Index, Wound and skin management, Wound assessment | Comments Off on An overview of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and wound care

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy case: Liability can result from treatment inaction

March 25th, 2020
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hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Many of you have worked with wound care patients needing antibiotics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

In the 2016 Texas case of Gonzalez v. Padilla, the issue of whether the antibiotics or hyperbaric oxygen therapy were properly prescribed was a core issue in the case.

The patient was struck while riding his motorcycle and was taken to a university-based medical center with a broken lower right leg and a de-gloved heel.

An open external fixation procedure of his compound, comminuted fracture was successfully performed and a “halo type” fixation device was placed around the leg to hold the bones in place as the fracture healed.

The patient was also placed on IV antibiotics, including Gentamicin and Cefazonlin for a period of five days. In addition, he received daily wound care treatments.

The medical center’s records indicated his right leg showed “obvious evidence of continued blood flow … and no obvious necrosis beneath the heel tissue itself.”

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Posted in Infection, Wound and skin management, Wound care litigation | Comments Off on Hyperbaric oxygen therapy case: Liability can result from treatment inaction

Antimicrobial products: Read labels and do your own research

March 18th, 2020
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antimicrobial products

The wound care industry has been inundated with antimicrobial products for years. 

Companies with good intentions try to improve outcomes and move away from antiquated antiseptics, such as Betadine, Dakins and acetic acid, that are not actually approved for use in wounds.

But some products are cytotoxic and lack any solid evidence that they are antimicrobial.

Instead, companies are offering modern products with little or no cytotoxicity available in multiple forms, such as cleansers and dressings. The challenge facing you in this barrage of products is knowing whether they are actually antimicrobial in the wound. 

This blog will arm you with proper ways to analyze these antimicrobial products and increase knowledge about them.

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Posted in Infection, Wound and skin management | Comments Off on Antimicrobial products: Read labels and do your own research

Meet wound care nurse and WCEI instructor Anita Prinz

March 11th, 2020
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wound care nurse

A 10-year veteran of the fashion industry and Wall Street, Anita Prinz, MSN, RN, CWOCN, decided she needed a career change.

Attracted to the nursing profession, Prinz went to nursing school after working in other fields. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1995 at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, Calif.

Soon thereafter, she moved to New York City and worked as a visiting nurse in Manhattan while engaging in a unique mode of travel to visit her patients. “I rode my bicycle to see patients in the late 1990s,” she said.

After seeing numerous wounds in her home care patients and working with exceptional wound care nurses, Prinz said she felt called to learn more about wound care. So she pursued certification as a wound, ostomy and continence nurse.

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Posted in Ostomy, Wild on Wounds Conference, Wound and skin management, Wound care education | Comments Off on Meet wound care nurse and WCEI instructor Anita Prinz

What does an allegation of ordinary negligence mean?

March 5th, 2020
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ordinary negligence

When you are named in a lawsuit alleging professional negligence, a requirement calls for a nurse expert.

The nurse expert is called for both parties (plaintiff and defendant) to establish whether the applicable standard of care in the situation was met or was breached.

The requirement of a nurse expert witness to establish whether the standard of care is met is based on the fact that an allegation of professional nursing negligence involves nursing judgment in the care of a particular patient.

The overall standard of care in a professional negligence case against a nurse is what ordinary, reasonable and prudent nurses would have done in the same or similar circumstances.

The establishment of what you as a wound care nurse would have done in a particular case requires, as the court below stated, “highly specialized expert knowledge with respect to which a layman can have no knowledge at all, and the court and jury must be dependent on expert advice.”

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Posted in Pressure injury, Wound and skin management, Wound care litigation | Comments Off on What does an allegation of ordinary negligence mean?

Prior authorization: New rule in effect for pressure reducing support surfaces

February 26th, 2020
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Clinicians caring for Medicare beneficiaries who need pressure reducing support surfaces when discharged home are adapting to a new rule.

Those clinicians now need to submit a Prior Authorization Request for Pressure-Reducing Support Surfaces, said Cynthia Broadus, BSHA, RN, CHCRM, LNHA, CLNC, WCC, DWC, OMS, executive director at the National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy (NAWCO) in Somonauk, Ill.

The Prior Authorization Request for Pressure Reducing Support Surfaces is a rule established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that took effect Oct. 21, 2019.

Submitting the preauthorization documentation will identify the need for the pressure reducing support surface and provide the supporting documentation, according to Broadus.

“The authorization must be submitted before the support surface is supplied to the patient and before a claim can be submitted for payment,” she said.

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Posted in Pressure injury, Wound and skin management | Comments Off on Prior authorization: New rule in effect for pressure reducing support surfaces

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