Amputation surgery can be traumatic and life-changing for patients and many struggle to come to terms with the loss of a limb. Wounds that fail to heal following surgery can have an impact on each individual’s rehabilitation process. It is important to provide the correct management for these wounds to facilitate healing and enable the patient to work towards mobilisation. Equipping community nurses with the knowledge and skills to assist patients in managing their residual limbs can improve the time from amputation to ambulation. Similarly, overcoming problems with patients' skin; achieving properly filling prosthesis; and managing the ‘wear and tear’ of prosthetic limbs are all challenging aspects in the management of this patient group.
Vivien Ogden describes the need for collaboration between community nurses, doctors and chiropodists in order to offer optimum foot care to elderly patients with type 2 diabetes.
Rosie Pudner discusses the need for thorough assessment of diabetic patients with foot ulceration.
Rosie Pudner BA (Hons), RGN, RCNT, DipN.Ed, Dip.App.S.S. (Open) is a Senior Lecturer - Tissue Viability, Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, Kingston University and St George’s Hospital Medical School, London.
Article accepted for publication
December 2001.
