Compression therapy — and compression hosiery in particular — are well-documented therapies for people with lower limb disorders. However, choosing the correct product for patients can be difficult. Here, Rebecca Elwell, Macmillan lymphoedema clinical nurse specialist, Royal Stoke University Hospital, examines the growth of technology in the choice of compression products and asks whether digital selection can contribute to best practice.
In each issue of JCN we ask clinical experts to take a look at a therapy area and examine some everyday problems that community nurses may experience. Here, we look at how best to prepare the wound bed for healing...
How can desloughing a wound aid the patient experience?
In each issue of JCN we ask a clinical expert to take a look at a therapy area and examine some everyday problems that community nurses may experience. In this issue, we look at venous leg ulceration and associated oedema and ask the question...
What is the patient experience of healing in a hosiery kit?
In each issue of JCN we ask a clinical expert to take a look at a therapy area and examine some everyday problems that community nurses may experience. In this issue, we look at venous leg ulceration and associated oedema and ask the question...
How do I reduce foot oedema while healing a leg ulcer?
Leg ulcers and chronic oedema can be complicated to treat, particularly when oedema is present in the the foot and you are trying to apply compression bandaging. We asked Winnie Furlong, the clinical lead for the leg ulcer service, The Princess Alexandra Hospital and West Essex Leg Ulcer Service, to explain the best way to treat venous leg ulceration with associated foot oedema, in response to the implementation of local guidelines.
In each issue of JCN we ask a clinical expert in a particular field to take a look at a therapy area and examine some everyday problems that community nurses may experience. In this issue, we look at an important precursor to compression therapy...
Compression therapy is the ‘gold standard’ for patients with lower limb problems. But achieving success is about more than simply applying compression bandaging or hosiery. We asked Trudie Young, tissue viability nurse and director of education and training at the Welsh Wound Innovation Centre, how to ensure that the limb is properly prepared to receive compression, a process that involves assessment, good skin care and debridement.
Once patients’ leg ulcers are healed, it is recommended that you move them from compression bandaging into leg ulcer hosiery kits or maintenance hosiery. But nurses often have difficulty in getting patients to comply with long-term hosiery use — which does require a lot of commitment — and ulcers often return. We asked Leanne Atkin, vascular nurse specialist at Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust, how to ensure that your patients keep healing and remain healed when they move into maintenance compression hosiery.
In each issue of JCN we ask a clinical expert in a particular field to take a look at a therapy area and examine some everyday problems that community nurses may experience. In this issue, we investigate leg ulcer management....
