American Professional Wound Care Association
* Call for oral and poster abstracts. January 25, 2008, is the deadline for oral and poster abstracts for APWCA2008, which will be sponsored by the American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA), March 6-9, 2008, in Fort Worth, TX. All abstracts must be submitted electronically. Information may be accessed at http://www.apwca.org, select "abstracts" on the home page.
APWCA2008 will be an interactive course that will offer 30 hours of continuing medical education for nurses, physicians, podiatrists, and all disciplines engaged in wound care.
Atypical ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers and critical limb ischemia will be featured as part of the ulcer and the risk for lower limb amputation track on Saturday, March 8. Each 60-minute session will incorporate lecture presentation with panel discussion and an audience question and answer segment. These sessions will address many issues involved in deciding on the treatment and management of complex wounds, including how to decide on an initial treatment program, how to assess and when to change treatment, and when modifying a treatment protocol, how to decide which treatment to follow. And finally, is there evidence to support these judgments? Leaders of wound care, such as R. Gary Sibbald, BSc, MD, FRCPC (Med) (Derm), FAPWCA, MEd; Robert G. Frykberg, DPM, MPH, FAPWCA; David Allie, MD, FAPWCA; and Mona Baharestani, PhD, ANP, CWOCN, CWS, FCCWS, FAPWCA, will dedicate their presentations to addressing the myriad avenues available for the treatment of skin ulcers.
* APWCA Student Chapter Program. Student chapters are now established at several podiatry colleges, including Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, and the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, New York, NY. Each has planned a conference at their respective schools. These are 2 well-established and very active student programs. Schools of nursing and physical therapy are also demonstrating an interest in developing APWCA student chapters. Professionals who have interest and/or suggestions for initiating a student chapter are encouraged to contact the APWCA.
* APWCA Clinical Rounds. This is a department in Advances in Skin & Wound Care that publishes articles dealing with various wound care topics, such as case studies or the use of various products and unusual treatment regimen. Clinicians with interesting cases or those using an uncommon, interesting, and effective treatment who would like to share their experience are encouraged to contact the APWCA and submit an article. APWCA members can assist authors who are less experienced in medical writing through the editorial process by peer review.
For information on any APWCA activities or events, visit the Web site at: http://www.apwca.org, e-mail: [email protected]; or call (215) 364-4100.
National Alliance of Wound Care
The National Alliance of Wound Care (NAWC), a multidisciplinary professional wound care certification organization offering the wound care certified (WCC) credential to nurses of all levels, therapists, physicians, and their assistants, hosted a reception at the Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care in October 2007 in Nashville, TN. The reception was attended by more than 250 individuals representing the wound care community. As part of the reception, guests had the opportunity to peruse issues of Advances in Skin & Wound Care from the past 20 years, depicting a true metamorphosis of the wound care industry.
In other news, the NAWC is planning to launch a mentoring program for its members. A forum, message board, and chat room capabilities are being added to the NAWC Web site to allow members to communicate with WCC mentors on issues of concern. The NAWC has reached out to its membership for participants in this program. The mentors are experienced wound care professionals who are available to help members achieve better patient outcomes and to assist them in performing job-related duties to the best of their abilities. Anyone interested in volunteering to be a mentor or to learn more about member benefits or becoming certified, contact Debbie Hecker, RN, MBA, WCC, NAWC, Executive Director, at 877-922-6292, or visit the Web site at http://www.nawccb.org.
Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society
At the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society's annual conference earlier this year, an opinion study conducted by Sage Products, Inc, showed that 64% of 207 wound, ostomy and continence nurses reported that efforts to reduce the incidence of heel pressure ulcers at their facilities have increased. Fifty-six percent of nurses polled reported that heel pressure ulcer prevalence has stayed the same. Other reported findings included inadequate patient assessments, uncooperative patients, and budget issues as the top issues hindering heel pressure ulcer prevention efforts. Overall, 30% of all pressure ulcers develop on the heel.
[black up pointing small triangle]Information:http://www.sageproducts.com