Volume 39 Number 4

A new name for the NPUAP

November was a landmark month. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) officially changed its name to the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP). This change reflects the 2016 adoption by the NPIAP of the term pressure injury rather than pressure ulcer. However, this new terminology change from ulcer to injury was not without controversy. As such, while the NPIAP has embraced the new term of pressure injury, it is not universally accepted, and some countries continue to use the term pressure ulcer. Globally, clinicians will need to search the literature using both keywords – pressure injury and pressure ulcer – in order to keep current on the latest evidence.

New 2019 International Pressure Injury/Ulcer Guideline

The world now has a new prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers/injury clinical practice guideline. This 3^rd edition of the international guideline is once again the result of global leadership and partnership by the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP), NPIAP and the Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance (PPPIA). Emily Haesler PhD from Australia served as the methodologist and Editor-in-chief. The Guideline Governance Group (GGG) was composed of a core group of individuals that included Jan Kottner PhD (EPUAP Chair), Janet Cuddigan PhD (NPIAP Chair), Keryln Carville PhD (PPPIA Chair), Katrin Blazer PhD, Dan Berlowitz MD, MPH, Yee Yee Chang, Siu Ming Susan Law MScN, Mary Litchford PhD, Pamela Mitchell MN, Zena Moore PhD, Joyce Pittman PhD, and Dominique Sigaudo-Roussel PhD.

New to this edition was the input from over 1,200 patients/consumers and their informal/family caregivers who also participated in the development of the guideline. Many stakeholders and individuals provided comments on drafts of the guideline throughout the development process. The WCET^® was also one of the 14 associate organisations which had members on various small working groups (SWG), namely the Brazilian Association of Enterostomal Therapists: Wound, Ostomy and Continence Care (SOBEST), a Canadian collaboration of Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Canada and Wounds Canada, the Chinese Nursing Association, an Indonesian collaboration of the Indonesian Wound Care Clinician Association and the Indonesian Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing Association, the Japanese Society for Pressure Ulcers, the Jiangsu Nursing Association, the Korean Association of Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses, the Malaysian Society of Wound Care Professionals, the Philippine Wound Care Society, the Saudi Chapter of Enterostomal Therapy, the Taiwan Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurse Association, and the Thai Enterostomal Therapy Society. The WCET^® Executive Board also reviewed and commented during the guideline development process.

Recommendations, as well as good practice statements (GPS), were accomplished in part by the numerous SWGs. The WCET^® sent an email to all our members asking them to let us know if they had worked on any portion of the international guideline. These are the names of the WCET^® members who responded to Jen by our journal publication deadline. We wish to acknowledge and thank them for volunteering their time to work on the guideline. They are, in alphabetical order: Rehab Al-Dossary (Saudi Arabia), Hajer Alsabaa (Saudi Arabia), Elizabeth Ayello (United States of America), Linda Benskin (United States of America), Katie Capitulo (United States of America), Keryln Carville (Australia), Laurent Chabal (Switzerland), Yee Yee Chang (Singapore), Aihua (Alice) Chen (China), Barbara Delmore (United States of America), Diane Maydick (United States of America), Elizabeth Faust (United States of America), Lina Febrianti (Indonesia), Ednalda Maria Franck (Brazil), Denise Hibbert (Saudi Arabia), Sandra Higelin (United States of America), Ailing Hu (China), Wen-Pei Huang (Taiwan), Xiaorong Huo (China), Qixia Jiang (China), Zhou-Qing Kang (China), Yuwadee Kestsumpun (Thailand), Maria Helene Larcher Caliri (Brazil), Susan Law (Hong Kong), Hau Lan Ngan (Hong Kong), Kimberly LeBlanc (Canada), Chak Hau Pang (Hong Kong), Barbara Pieper (United States of America), Hiske Smart (Bahrain), Widasari Sri Gitarja (Indonesia), James Lincoln Trinidad (Philippines), Yin Ping Wan (Singapore), and Ann Williams (United States).

The international guideline was launched at a conference in Los Angeles, California, USA in mid-November, followed by another conference in Canberra, Australia in early December. The full version of the guideline is 405 pages and provides narrative summaries and tables of the evidence that was appraised. It is available for purchase as either a printed copy or electronic version from the websites of the governing organisations – www.epuap.org, www.npiap.org or www.pppia.org. A quick reference guide (43 pages) is also available on their websites as a free downloadable .pdf file.

The guideline has 115 recommendations, of which seven are at the A level of evidence. When there was not enough evidence to bring forward a recommendation, a total of 62 GPS were written. The guideline went through various rounds of review and comments by not just healthcare professionals but also patients/consumers. New to the guideline is a section on quality indicators as well as implementation of best practices to assist clinicians to use the guideline in their everyday care of patients. The WCET^® has officially endorsed the international guideline.

The WCET^® congratulates all who worked so diligently to produce this important global document. The guideline was created as a clinical resource that could be applicable in all care settings by all healthcare professionals and consumers in any part of the world. This is an important resource that truly will help pressure injury/ulcer prevention and treatment practice throughout the world. Well done to all who were involved in the creation of this guideline and to all who will adopt and use it in their clinical practice. 2020 should bring us a wealth of knowledge as we learn how the guideline is implemented in the various cultures, health systems and countries around the world.

40 years of the WCET^® Journal

Don’t forget that 2020 will also be an important year for the WCET^® as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the WCET^® Journal. Join us in Glasgow in October for the WCET^®–ASCN UK 2020 Joint Congress. We thank our WCET^® Journal editor Jenny Prentice (Australia) and IIWCG contributing editors Hiske Smart (Bahrain) and Gulnaz Tariq (Pakistan), as well as our publisher Cambridge Media under the direction of Greg Paull and his amazing team of professionals in Perth, Australia who all work tirelessly to produce our journal. We believe our first WCET^® Journal Editor, Norma N Gill, would be proud of the educational vehicle for evidence and clinical knowledge that the WCET^® Journal provides for our members. We are also the only association journal that publishes each issue in multiple languages. This helps to accomplish the mission that all persons throughout the world who need care for ostomy, wound or incontinence receive care from a knowledgeable nurse.

You still have some time to submit your abstract for the Joint Congress before the closing deadline. Abstracts are due to close on 29 February 2020. Check the website – www.wcetn.org – or the Congress website – www.wcet-ascnuk2020.com – for submission details and the latest information. The 2020 Joint Congress Organising Committee are working hard to bring you an exciting and educationally diverse learning opportunity that highlights how nurses are addressing clinical problems that are faced in their particular country. Organising Committee members are Dee Waugh (WCET^® Congress & Meetings Coordinator), Maddie White (ASCN UK Chairperson), Alison Crawshaw (WCET^® Treasurer), Angie Perrin (ASCN UK Vice Chairperson), Claire Simpson (InConference) and Jen Wood (PCO, Hauck & Associates). Scientific Committee members are Denise Hibbert (WCET^® Education Committee Co-Chair), Wendy Osborne (ASCN UK), Laurent Chabal (WCET^® Vice President), Jennifer Burch (ASCN UK Education Committee Chair), Andrew Bird (ASCN UK member) and Carol Stott (WCET^® Education Committee member). Thank you to both the Congress Organising and Scientific Committee members who are volunteering their time to bring you an outstanding educational program. We can all learn from the commonalities of approaches to clinical solutions that may be applicable to us. Don’t forget that WCET^® members can also apply for NNGF^® Congress Travel Scholarships. We look forward to seeing you all in Glasgow, Scotland 10–14 October 2020.

Elizabeth A Ayello
PhD, RN, ETN, CWON, MAPWCA, FAAN
WCET^® President 2018–2020

Laurent O Chabal
BSc (CBP), RN, OncPall (Cert), Dip (WH), ET, EAWT
WCET^® Vice President 2018–2020

Celebrate with the International Interprofessional Wound Care Group (IIWCG)

It has been a busy time for the IIWCG. In March 2019, we celebrated the 10th Abu Dhabi Wound Care Conference with more than 1500 delegates and 100 invited speakers in attendance. There was much learning going on at the conference with two formal educational programs running in parallel.

Students from the International Interprofessional Wound Care Course (IIWCC) UAE have completed the rigorous 1-year course. Students came from many counties, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar and Oman. This year we were happy to graduate 37 students from the IIWCC-UAE. It was a beautiful sight to see their joy as they walked across the stage in their graduation attire to formally receive their certificates and course pins. Dr Chaitanya Kodange from Bahrain was crowned as valedictorian of the class of 2018–2019, attaining the highest coursework score in both the modules and in the research project work that focused on early recognition of depression in diabetic foot ulcer patients. The award for the best selective project presentation went to Mr Adonis Dungca from the UAE, with a project that focused on the management of endotracheal tube ties to prevent device-related pressure injuries at the back of the necks of intubated patients. The students within the top ten of the selectives had the opportunity to present their research at the IIWCG conference as part of the proceedings.

Also present during the conference were students from the University of Hertfordshire who are working on their master’s degree under the direction of Dr Madeleine Flanagan. The Abu Dhabi Wound Care Conference forms a part of their course work in which they have to critique and discuss the various sessions in a scholarly way. The IIWCC-UAE course accounts for half of the degree requirements for their MSc degree. If you want more information about this innovative university program, please feel free to discuss this with me as I am a graduate of this program, or contact Dr Madeleine Flanagan at Hertfordshire University (UK).

March 2020 will bring the World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS) to Abu Dhabi. This will be the cumulation of 4 years of planning and work that began in Florence, Italy when IIWCG won the bid to host the 2020 WUWHS Congress. We are proud to be the hosting society and greatly appreciate all the assistance of our Scientific Committee chaired by Prof Afsaneh Alavi and co-chaired by Dr Dieter Mayer, as well as the help of our International Planning Committee from all across the globe. IIWCG is well supported by many societies; however, our closest support comes from the WCET^®, with this journal also serving as our official journal. We are grateful for your involvement in our society and look forward to the sessions chaired by your members at the 6th WUWHS Congress here in Abu Dhabi. Over 1,000 abstracts have been reviewed and more than 250 invited speakers from around the world have confirmed attendance. We know this is truly going to be an extraordinary educational event.

We hope to see you all in Abu Dhabi to be part of this Congress and invite you all to celebrate with us when I officially become the first nurse to become President of WUWHS. What makes this more historic and even more specular, is the fact that it all occurs in the year of the nurse. We could not ask for more, nor planned it better! We welcome you to be part of this next chapter of IIWCG where we will embrace the concept that a global force is stronger to positively change the lives of patients with wounds and skin needs. That is our next step and, in taking those steps, we invite you to share this journey with us.

Gulnaz Tariq
IIWCG President and WUWHS President Elect

Author(s)

Elizabeth A Ayello
PhD, RN, ETN, CWON, MAPWCA, FAAN
WCET^® President 2018–2020

Laurent O Chabal
BSc (CBP), RN, OncPall (Cert), Dip (WH), ET, EAWT
WCET^® Vice President 2018–2020

Gulnaz Tariq
IIWCG President and WUWHS President Elect