Hydration is an easily overlooked but crucial element of general health that nurses working in the community need to be particularly aware of. Monitoring what people eat and drink is vital if dehydration, as well as deterioration in other conditions such as diabetes, is to be avoided.
The focus of compression bandaging has been directed towards ease of application, comfort, tolerability and effectiveness. This article reports on a two-centre non-comparative evaluation of the new two component short-stretch bandage kit (Actico®2C) in a case series with the aim of establishing how comfortable and effective the bandage is in a real life situation.
Aaron Knowles Tissue Viability Podiatrist, Eastbourne Wound Healing Centre
Dr Hildegard Charles Visiting Lecturer, Buckingham University
Agnes Collarte Tissue Viability Nurse, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Anna Coulborn Lymphoedema Specialist and Tissue Viability Nurse, Wound Healing Centre, Eastbourne
Sylvie Hampton Tissue Viability Consultant, Wound Healing Centre, Eastbourne
Article accepted for publication: March 2013
In some chronic wounds, excessive exudate can inhibit wound healing. Clinicians must manage the wound, ensure cost and clinical effectiveness and a positive patient experience as mismanagement may lead to non-concordance. This article discusses the evaluation of absorbent products within a community provider organisation, and includes patient feedback and opinions of the clinicians delivering the care.
Lorraine Grothier, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Tissue Viability and Lymphoedema Manager Central Essex Community Services, Essex.
Article accepted for publication: March 2013
An estimated 23 million adults in the UK have some sort of scar. Normal scars are preceded by injury, immediate in onset, flat and asymptomatic. These are the most common type of scar and are a result of the body’s natural healing process. Hypertrophic and keloid scars occur when the healing process is deranged.
This article, abridged and amended from an article previously published in JCN, outlines the differences between these latter types.
To view original article please visit: http://www.jcn.co.uk/journal/03-2011/wound-management/1416-scar-therapies/?s=scarring
This article explores how effective exudate control and debridement can promote wound bed preparation and presents a 10-patient case series where Drawtex®, an advanced hydroconductive wound dressing with LevaFiber™ technology, improved the lives of patients with chronic wounds.
Sue Johnson, RN, MA, ANP, NMP, Lead Nurse Wound Care, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster
Pam Spruce, BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies, DN, DN Cert, RGN, Clinical Director, TVRE Consulting, Stoke-on-Trent
Kathleen Leak, DPSN, RGN, Wound Care Sister, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster
Denise Ridsdale, RGN, Nurse Practitioner, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster
Article accepted for publication: April 2013
For the patient, wound infection can lead to poor healing outcomes and has the potential to result in life-threatening sepsis. For healthcare services, additional expense can be incurred due to the need for remedial treatment and extra clinician time. Poor wound infection rates malso attract negative publicity and damage the public’s perception of care standards. This article examines the essential roles played by prevention of infection, early diagnosis and the initiation of effective management strategies.
Martyn Butcher, Independent Tissue Viability and Wound Care Consultant, Devon
The UK has an expanding elderly population, which means that in the future nurses and clinicians who work in community-based units, such as nursing homes and hospices, will increasingly encounter age-related conditions such as palliative oedema and mixed aetiology ulceration. This article looks at duomed soft®, (medi UK, Hereford) a new hosiery solution, which is not only easy to apply, making patient self-care more likely, but also provides consistent mild compression in a format that is more cosmetically acceptable to patients.
Helen Butterfield, Leg Ulcer/Dermatology Specialist Nurse, Oxford
