The paper that I wrote focused on the importance of wound care education, to help healthcare practitioners in providing efficient service in the treatment of wounds for the prevention of infection. Evidences ranged from the use of wound treatment in amputation, to the use of videos and telemedicine, especially since the professional medical continuing education has been changing rapidly nowadays. For this, Abeln & Pitassi (2012, p.164) stated that there should be frequent communication and teamwork between healthcare practitioners and the patients and their families. Kent (2010) even suggested the implementation of the Just-In-Time Educational Intervention, which is crucial in educating healthcare practitioners in the cleaning, closing and dressing of wounds. These evidences point out that there has to be continuous education in wound care, both for the healthcare practitioners and the patients, as it improves services and prevents the infection of wounds.
When I synthesized the evidences, I used the approach of focusing more on the efficiency and usefulness of all the evidences that were used. After indicating the name of the author and the year of publication, I included four specific things: first is the evidence’s level of quality; second is the level of evidence; third is the significance of the evidence to the actual theme; and finally, the relevance of the evidence to the actual theme. By using these as a guide in synthesizing the evidences, I was able to come up with a finality on which evidences appeared to be useful and effective, and which ones are not so useful and effective.
It is said that, learning to write in a scholarly manner would require the capacity to succinctly summarize an article in a sentence or two. Thus, to practice this capacity, the following two articles had been summarized in a sentence or two, as appeared pertinent to my proposal that is: to increase and improve wound care education in healthcare practitioners. The following are the summaries of the two articles:
Jelnes, R. (2014). Reflections on the use of telemedicine in wound care. European Wound Management Association, 14(2), 48-51.
In this article, Jelnes (2014) insists that the use of telemedicine may be implied in wound care education, as it would facilitate communication among team members, which leads to knowledge sharing and efficient information in real-time method. By educating healthcare practitioners on the use of telemedicine in wound care, there will be more tools for clinical investigations, wound assessment, and the availability of patient history.
Van Acker, M.M., & Kuriata, M.A. (2014). Video education provides effective wound care instruction pre- or post-Mohs micrographic surgery. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 7(4), 43-47.
In this article, Acker & Kuriata (2014) insists that the use of video in wound care education may provide fast and effective delivery of instruction, which is important when it comes to micrographic surgery. By using high-definition video modules in wound care education, they can provide and maintain patient satisfaction that is crucial in preventing skin cancer in the treatment and caring of wounds, and to prevent contamination.
Last but not the least is the delivery of information and the use of communication tools to highlight patient preference when conducting wound care and the treatment of skin surgeries. Patient preference and clinical expertise have always been crucial when it comes to wound care treatment and management, which is the reason why healthcare practitioners have started using tools in telemedicine, as well as video modules, in reaching the patients. There has to be more tools and strategies when trying to communicate with the patients and their families, since it is the right of the patient and their families, to know and to choose what is to be done to them, or what preferences they want for the treatment of their wounds. Like other citizens, patients have the right to choose and have their freewill. Thus, there should be continuous wound care education on both healthcare practitioners and patients.
References:
Abeln, M., & Pitassi, A. (2012). The role of the physical therapist in wound care. Home Healthcare Nurse, 30(3), 161-169.
Jelnes, R. (2014). Reflections on the use of telemedicine in wound care. European Wound Management Association, 14(2), 48-51.
Kent, D.J. (2010). Effects of a Just-in-Time educational intervention placed on wound dressing packages. Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses, 37(1), 1-6.
Van Acker, M.M., & Kuriata, M.A. (2014). Video education provides effective wound care instruction pre- or post-Mohs micrographic surgery. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 7(4), 43-47.
