OMNI's wound management improved through partnership, says clinical sales rep
Monday, December 5, 2005 -- Craig Anderson
In her role as wound care educator, Norma Van Duesen routinely emphasizes consistency and care-giver awareness in the successful treatment and prevention of pressure wounds.

More importantly, says Norma, a Smith and Nephew clinical sales representative, is that staff – whether registered nurses, health care aides or personal support workers – develop critical thinking towards prevention and wound treatment.

“We take a holistic approach,” says Norma, who has toured all sixteen OMNI homes offering in-services on wound care and acts in a supportive role as a wound management consultant.

“We look at the full health picture – are they getting enough protein, are they sitting or sleeping in a way that is exacerbating the wound?” she asks.

Long term care providers like OMNI are becoming experts in wound care, says Norma, primarily because they often admit new residents from a hospital setting, where advanced stage wounds routinely develop due to extended poor positioning.

“Wounds are not as much of a priority for the hospitals,” says Norma.

Norma has also taught staff proper protocol for different levels of wounds (stage one can be a sore, red area on the skin while a stage 4 can involve extensive damage to tissue and exposed bone), including new approaches to healing wrought by product advances. Regular – and painful - dressing changes have been reduced due to the use of healing gels and dressings like Acticoat (see: http://wound.smith-nephew.com/ca_en/node.asp?NodeId=3113), an anti-microbial barrier dressing that can be left on for up to seven days.

“What’s different with some of the new products is that if you leave them alone, it hastens healing,” says Norma. “It’s also helpful because you don’t have to disturb the resident and you reduce the pain.”

Norma also offered intensive, four-day courses to select OMNI nurses. After receiving the training, the nurses will act as each home’s resource. Norma will continue to act as counsel for difficult to treat wounds.

Debra Hannan, Woodland Villa’s wound care resource nurse, recently told the OMNI way that due to increased early identification that advanced wounds are becoming rare.

“We have an increase in stage one wounds, but this is because we are catching things much quicker now due to the staff being so aware. [The end result] is that we have a lower incidence of stage 2 and 3 wounds, which are much more serious,” said Debra.

Smith and Nephew’s educational emphasis is also web-based, as the company offers a specialized e-learning program open to clinicians. The web site also offers wound care management education to the public. The company will also provide practitioners with a “Train the Trainer” DVD.

OMNI’s emphasis on and support for on-going staff education is a mirrored value to Smith and Nephew, says Norma, making the partnership a natural fit.

“In education we speak the same language. It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”