In This Issue of JWOCN
This final issue of 2015 contains multiple articles that speak to the heart of WOC nursing specialty practice, including moisture-associated skin damage, medical adhesive-related skin damage (MARSI), and pressure ulcer staging. Your Wound Care section opens with a critical look at the unstageable pressure ulcer category. Sunniva Zaratkiewicz reports findings from a review of 74 unstageable wounds and evaluated whether their characteristics and healing trajectories more closely resembled a full-thickness or partial-thickness injury. You will want to read this original piece of scholarship and contemplate your understanding of the unstageable pressure ulcer.
Marietta Farris, Michael Petty, Jennifer Hamilton, Shelley-Ann Walters, and Michael Flynn reported findings from their epidemiologic study of medical adhesive-related skin injury in the acute setting. This study is a must-read for every WOC nurse because it presents multiple findings unique to our rudimentary but growing evidence base for MARSI.
The world may be shrinking, but the community of authors contributing to the Journal continues to grow. Lakkana Thaikruea and Potjaman Siriariyaporn report a case series of skin damage associated with box jellyfish stings. The box jellyfish is one of a number of toxic jellyfish encountered around the world. You will want to read their clinically relevant article to enhance your comfort with treating injuries associated with these significant and poorly understood stings.
This issue's Ostomy Care section opens with a groundbreaking study of health-related quality of life in community-dwelling persons with enterocutaneous fistulas. In addition to reading this clinically relevant article authored by Jo Hoeflok, Melodie Jaramillo, Tin Li, and Nancy Baxter, you should visit the Journal's Web page and view the video abstract attached to this article. It is the first video abstract published in the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, and I hope to follow it up with your first video abstract attracting readers to your next article in the official Journal of the WOCN Society.
Your Continence Care section opens with an Evidence-Based Report Card, the second in the last 2 issues of the Journal. Laurie Callan, Donna Thompson, and Debra Netsch review evidence concerning the influence of fluid intake on lower urinary tract symptoms associated with overactive bladder. The Continence Care section continues with an innovative study of skin problems, primarily incontinence-associated dermatitis, associated with nursing home residents using different pad designs. Authored by Sinead Clarke-O'Neill, Ann Farbrot, Marie-Louise Eidrup, Allan Cottenden, and Mandy Fader, this well-written article is a must-read for any WOC nurse involved in urinary containment or working with a structured skin care program designed to prevent incontinence-associated dermatitis and reduce the risk of pressure ulcer development.
A. Long, J. Edwards, J. Worthington, N. Cotterill, I. Weir, M. Drake, and E. van den Huevel describe their evaluation of the clinical performance of a prototype undergarment designed to detect urine leakage from continence pads. This highly innovative article addresses one of the longest-standing and most important urinary containment needs in the ambulatory care population, an absorptive brief that alerts the person wearing it to urinary leakage.
This issue's Challenges in Practice feature article by Vaidehi Agrawal, Kirby Wilson, Roxana Reyna, and Mohammad Emran describes the use of 4% topical lidocaine in a case study of an adolescent patient with necrotizing adenopathy. You will want to read this innovative approach to pain management associated with negative pressure wound therapy dressings in an adolescent and determine if you should consider adopting a similar approach for patients facing similar challenges in your clinical practice.