WCET Journal - Portuguese Edition

Background Healthcare systems across the globe are challenged to meet the increasing demands for wound, ostomy and continence related nursing care.

Program development Faculty at Ho Chi Minh University of Medicine and Pharmacy School of Nursing and at the University Medical Center identified an opportunity to provide advanced wound, ostomy and continence education to nurses in Vietnam and throughout Asia. Nursing leaders chose to develop a program that met the accreditation of the wound ostomy continence nursing education program (WOCNEP) outlined by the WOCN Society.

Results Utilising technology, the barriers of time zones, delivery of didactic content and clinical collaboration were overcome to develop the first accredited WOCNEP program in Asia.

Background Pressure injury (PI) development is multifactorial. In patients with dark skin tones, identifying impending PIs by visual skin assessment can be especially challenging. The need for improved skin assessment techniques, especially for persons with dark skin tones, continues to increase. Similarly, greater awareness of the need for inclusivity with regard to representation of diverse skin colours/tones in education materials has been apparent in recent years.

Objective To provide current perspectives from the literature surrounding skin assessment and PI development in patients with dark skin tones.

Methods The following elements will be discussed through the lens of skin tone: 1) historical perspectives of PI staging from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel, 2) epidemiology of PI, 3) anatomy and physiology of the skin, 3) skin tone assessment and measurement, 4) augmented visual assessment modalities, 5) PI prevention, 6) PI healing, 7) social determinants of health, and 8) gaps in clinician education.

Conclusions This review highlights the gap in our clinical knowledge regarding PIs in patients with dark skin tones. Racial disparities with regard to PI development and healing are especially highlighted among patients with dark skin tones. Skin tone colour assessment must be standardised and quantifiable in clinical education, practice, and research. This work is urgently needed, and support from private and governmental agencies is essential.

Bowel management in the person with a permanent colostomy is important and the burden of continuous use of bags and adapters (base plates / skin barriers) on health care costs and the environment is known. When applied regularly, colostomy irrigation (CI) contributes to improving the quality of life (QOL) of the individual with a permanent colostomy by enabling improved faecal continence and reducing costs. The aim of this article was to examine the positive impact of CI on an individual’s QOL and health expenditures. In this case, it was found that a patient with a permanent colostomy who had performed CI for 21 years could eliminate many of the physical and psychological problems as well as peristomal skin complications (PSCs), arising from using a colostomy appliance only. It was also determined in this case scenario that bowel management using CI was three times more cost-effective than the colostomy bag system.