NPUAP
Consensus conference. At the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel's (NPUAP) biennial conference, to be held February 25-26, 2005, in Tampa, FL, experts from practice, industry, and government will discuss and debate the issues surrounding deep tissue injury (DTI) in "Consensus Building: What Do We Know?"
Consensus building is a dynamic process that leads to an agreement of experts. In wound care, this process includes physicians, nurses, therapists, patients, policy makers, and researchers. Decisions that are reached impact all patient care, from documentation requirements to treatment and reimbursement policies.
The NPUAP has been a leader in facilitating the consensus building process for pressure ulcers. In 1989, the NPUAP convened a consensus conference that led to the standard medical definition for pressure ulcers.
The 2005 consensus conference attendees will look at DTI, a new classification of pressure-related wounds. This wound has some characteristics of a Stage I pressure ulcer but physiologically is deeper. With the current pressure ulcer staging system, correct classification of this wound is not possible.
Questions to be answered by the consensus conference attendees include:
* What is DTI?
* What level of skin is involved and how does it heal?
* What is the current research?
Using a group decision-making process, a common language will be determined.
The consensus conference will be held simultaneously with "Best Practice for Assessment and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers." For more details, visit the NPUAP Web site at http://www.npuap.org.
APWCA
New membership category. The American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA) has added a membership category: professional member. Practitioners who join as a professional member do not need to maintain the continuing education requirement of the fellow, diplomate, and associate categories.
The APWCA is a college-like organization designed to bring together the multiple fields involved in wound care for interactive educational programs and the development of legislative initiatives to address the many factors in clinical practice that impact the ability to dispense patient care. In addition, the APWCA offers the opportunity to participate in independent research and publish in a variety of journals. The APWCA credentials its members based on board certification status and the ability to maintain current continuing education credit in wound care on a regular basis.
For more information or an application during open enrollment for most fields in wound care, visit http://www.apwca.org, or call the office at 215-364-4100.