Resources

Welcome to the final issue of the Journal of Community Nursing for 2024. How quickly has this year gone? As always, please take some time to reflect on all your achievements this year, as well as anything that hasn’t gone too well. Reflection is an excellent tool for learning and is something that many of us do constantly as it really does support our ongoing development. Take some time to make plans for 2025 and aim to achieve those goals.

One of the cornerstones of nursing practice is teamwork. Academics and practice guidelines never tire of reminding nurses of the importance of effective communication skills, multidisciplinary working and group reflection. And that’s without the regular social activities that go handin-hand with working in a busy healthcare team — birthday drinks,
leaving dos and retirement parties.

Most nurses working in primary care settings will assess, treat and manage patients with a wide range of chronic wounds and skin conditions (Armstrong, 2017). Venous leg ulceration is extremely common; however, it is thought that around only 53% of patients heal fully within one year (Guest et al, 2018). This represents a significant number of patients and a large proportion of nursing time. Patients often experience skin disorders because of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), and to improve outcomes there is a need not only to heal the ulceration, but also to manage the whole limb in respect of dermatological issues, such as wet, itchy varicose eczema, hyperkeratosis, dermatitis and fungal infection, to name a few.

New guidance, produced as the result of a 15-month project funded by the Burdett Trust
for Nursing during 2023 and 2024, has been published by the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) to improve the care of people experiencing homelessness with diabetes. 

People experiencing homelessness with diabetes face multiple challenges and are known to have poor health outcomes. They are at much higher risk of serious complications or death because of their condition, partly due to daily challenges of accessing healthy food and adequate care.

The British Dermatological Nursing Group (BDNG) recently hosted a successful in person event in central London focusing on four main hot topics, including: an update on  dermatology in primary care, menopause and the skin, research and patch testing.

Delayed toilet training is common among children with additional needs and this group are more likely to experience continence issues, which can have serious long-term implications for their health. Early bowel and bladder assessment and support to achieve their potential is critical. Below is a summary of the issues and resources available to enable this.

As a stoma care nurse, the author regularly sees people with peristomal skin complications (PSCs), and we know that there are people in the community living with a PSC believing it to be a normal part of having a stoma. However, patients should know that these complications are largely preventable, and often easily treatable.

Pressure ulcers are often preventable and highlight the broader challenges of maintaining high standards of care, especially in vulnerable patient populations, such as those with psychiatric conditions. This article highlights the difficulties pressure ulcers pose for healthcare organisations, healthcare professionals and patients, while also exploring strategies to address these challenges in clinical practice.

This article discusses the care of normally healing surgical wounds, together with key potential wound complications of surgical wound dehiscence (SWD) and surgical site infection (SSI). It also provides a brief overview of how fistulas and sinuses develop and
how to manage these complex wounds. Indeed, timely intervention and appropriate care of surgical wounds and any complications which may arise is vital to ensure optimal outcomes and prevent long-term issues.

The aim of this in-service evaluation was to assess the performance, safety, and usability of a superabsorbent polymer dressing in moderate to highly exuding wounds. An in-service evaluation was conducted for two weeks on 12 patients being treated for venous leg ulcers, postoperative wounds, diabetic foot ulcers and lymphoedema ulcers at an outpatient vascular clinic in England. Most of the patients (67%, n=8) required three or fewer dressing changes. The number of patients with maceration was reduced by 29%  (n=2) from baseline (n=7), the mean pain score was reduced by 8% and no malodour was reported in 67% (n=8) of the patients by the end of two weeks. The dressing managed exudate well (50%) or very well (50%). The findings demonstrate the performance and safety of the dressing in managing exudate volume, wound odour and improving periwound skin condition without requiring a high frequency of dressing changes.