Nursing treatment of patients with chronic leg ulcers in the community.
A descriptive survey of current reported practice by 146 community nurses for their nursing treatment of leg ulcers was undertaken. Sixty-four per cent of nurses reported they would apply compression bandages to only venous ulcers; in only 23% of cases could the products described achieve an adequate level of compression. A variety of modern wound dressings were used by the nurses; 89% of nurses reported using a combination of different products layered over the ulcer. There is no evidence that this has any beneficial effect and could therefore be a potential waste of money, as well as contributing to allergic skin reactions. It would be useful if primary-health-care teams and Family Health Service Authority information pharmacists formulated protocols based upon effective treatments for patients with chronic leg ulcers.
Roe
B H
BH
Griffiths
J M
JM
Kenrick
M
M
Cullum
N A
NA
Hutton
J L
JL
D001458:Bandages; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000451:nursing*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'