Recent Posts | page 22
November 11, 2016
Check out these best practices for trimming your diabetic patient’s toenails to help prevent foot ulceration. Did you know that a whopping 10-25% percent of all patients with diabetes ultimately develop a foot ulcer – a diagnosis that brings a five-year mortality rate of nearly 50%? Consistent foot care, such as regular screenings, footwear assessment […]
October 28, 2016
Beer, honey and grease? The history of wound care includes all three, and much more. Go ahead … amaze your friends and colleagues with these wound care fun facts. We’ve come a long way in wound care, especially over the past 100 years or so. But wound care techniques are as old as humankind, with […]
October 21, 2016
Even the best wound care detectives are challenged by this sneaky culprit that delays healing. Here’s how to identify biofilm bacteria and solve the case. Ready for some serious detective work? In this wound-care case, we will try to find and invade the elusive biofilm bacterial hide-out. So the questions are: where are those microbes […]
October 7, 2016
Inaccurate and incomplete intake and output (I&O) records pose a problem in litigation, as well as a risk to the patient who requires monitoring of fluid balance for medical reasons. “Would you agree that the nurses did not know how to do basic arithmetic?” Of course nurses know how to add and subtract, yet I […]
September 14, 2016
When it comes to wound care, staging pressure injuries with visible or palpable cartilage doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s what to do. If you’ve ever treated wounds around the ear or in the area just below the bridge of the nose, you know how very little subcutaneous tissue there is. As a result, […]
September 9, 2016
Bereavement care is part of the job, no matter how difficult it is to talk about death and deal with grieving family members. “Callous disregard.” These two little emotionally loaded words are how the plaintiff complaint summed up the following story from a grieving daughter named Sally.* In her deposition, Sally recounted how nice and […]
August 17, 2016
Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist and fellow ostomate Laura Cox shares her most frequently asked ostomy patient questions (and she gives you the answers, too). Editor’s note: in her blog series, Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist Laura Cox, Shield HeatlhCare, shares lifestyle tips and information with fellow ostomates. After being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at the age of eighteen, […]
August 12, 2016
Here’s how wound care detectives can solve the mystery of chronic wounds that fail to heal. Ready for some serious detective work? In this case, our focus is on those chronic wounds that just won’t heal, including epibole (which happens in full thickness wounds). And as we know, this rolled wound edge inhibits healing. But […]
July 29, 2016
Five clinical tests for diagnosing loss of protective sensation in the diabetic foot, plus tips on inflammation assessment. How serious are diabetic foot ulcers? The statistics are sobering: It is estimated that between 10 and 25% of patients with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime. Diabetic foot ulcers precede 84% of all lower […]
July 21, 2016
How do you use hydrogel dressings to keep wounds moist without causing maceration? Very carefully. If you’ve ever taken a long bath or spent an afternoon in a swimming pool, you’re familiar with what happens to your hands and feet: they become soft, white, and wrinkled up like prunes. This is a classic case […]