In This Issue of JWOCN
Despite recent attention to prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections in patients with short-term indwelling catheters, WOC nurses face equally daunting clinical challenges, management of patients with chronic urinary and fecal incontinence, and patients requiring long-term urinary catheterization. This issue of the Journal includes findings from 3 articles that used qualitative research methods to enhance our knowledge and understanding of these patient groups. Michelle Lobchuk and Fran Rosenberg used a mixed design to evaluate persons with urinary incontinence and their care providers. You will want to read this novel and clinically relevant study to enhance your knowledge of persons living with urinary incontinence and the substantial influence it exerts of those who care for these individuals. Sarah Fowler, Helen Godfrey, Mandy Fader (Consulting Editor for the Journal), Anthony Gerard Timoney, and Adele Long report results of an interpretative descriptive qualitative study that explored experiences of persons with long-term indwelling urinary catheters. This study qualifies as must-read for any WOC nurse who participates in the care of these challenging and deserving patients.
Tara Beuscher closes this issue's Continence Care section with a description of a quality improvement project designed to allow removal of indwelling catheters while maintaining a good record of input and urinary output in patients managed in a long-term acute care facility. You will want to read this innovative article to determine whether this strategy should be adapted to assist your facility in preventing facility-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
This issue's Ostomy Care section opens with a descriptive study by Heidi Huddleston Cross, Cheryl Roe, and Dongliang Wang that evaluated staff nurses' confidence in their skills and knowledge when managing persons with ostomies. This article qualifies as must read for any nurse who relies on nonspecialty colleagues when managing patients with fecal or urinary ostomies. Sherry Lynn Werth, Debra Schutte, and Manfred Stommel evaluated educational content perceived as most useful by persons with a new ostomy upon hospital discharge. You will want to carefully review the findings from this clinically relevant article, particularly in the context of increasingly short hospital stays following ostomy surgery.
Simon Knowles, Davina Tribbick, William Connell, David Castle, Michael Salzberg, and Michael Kamm report findings from their descriptive, cross-sectional study that evaluated the contributions of illness perceptions, self-efficacy in stoma management, and coping strategies to anxiety and depression symptoms in persons with fecal ostomies. This clinically relevant study qualifies as must read for any WOC nurse faced with teaching a person with a new ostomy to manage not only their stoma but also the underlying disease that led to its creation. Finally, Magdalena Leyk, Janina Ksiazek, Agnieszka Habel, Marek Dobosz, Agnieszka Kruk, and Sylwia Terech explored the influence of social support from the family on health-realted quality of life in persons with a colostomy.
Two other features in this issue of the Journal also focus on issues related to persons with ostomy. Trevor Yeung provides a thoughtful View From Here column on facilities within public toilets for persons with ostomies living in Japan. You will want to read this clinically and socially relevant article, as well as the reply from Section Editor Janice Colwell concerning the issue of managing an ostomy in a public toilet.
Canadian colleagues Jo Hoeflok, Fiona Press, Cristina Gandolfi, Brian Jurewitsch, Ye Wah Ng, Joan Park, and Ashma Patel describe development of an algorithm for high output fecal ostomies in this issue's CAET Feature. You will want to read this interdisciplinary effort to learn more about this clinically useful resource.
This issue's Wound Care section opens with a study of skin care product evaluation in a group of critically ill permature neonates. You will want to read this article authored by Daniel Young, Edward Drower, Roxana Reyna, and Debashish Chakravarthy. Next, Shelley Roberts, Ben Desbrow, and Wendy Chaboyer report results of their interpretive study of patient perceptions of the role of nutrition in pressure ulcer prevention. You will want to read this clinically relevant study exploring how patients view the link between nutrition and pressure ulcer risk and how their perspectives may influence decisions concerning dietary intake. Molly Gadd and Sarah Adkins report findings from their retrospective review of 20 patients who experienced facility-acquired pressure ulcers. This article is relevant to your practice because it explores a cutting-edge clinical query, should we be scrutinizing Braden Scale subscores along with the cumulative score when planning preventive interventions for persons at risk for pressure ulceration?
Vivian Wong reports results of a study that evaluated tissue interface pressures created when the heel is in contact with the bed surface in health persons. You will want to read this article to see how resting the heels of healthy adults over 3 consecutive days impacts transcutaneous oxygen, and local skin temperature, and how these findings compare to measurements in a group of adults following hip fracture. The next article is Jessie H. Ahronie's description of the establishment of a wound care program. The section closes with Arturo Gonzalez's description of an education project to improve self-management of venous stasis.
This issue's Challenges in Practice column extends our focus on wound care. Charles Buscemi and CarolAnn Romeo report a case where regular administration of the drug lisinopril may have contributed to delayed healing a venous leg ulcer in a 71-year-old man.
Should I cram or should I pace myself when preparing for a WOCNCB certification examination? You will want to read this issue's Getting Ready for Certification feature article authored by Jill Trelease to answer this important question and practice on the 3 test items focusing on foot care.