title: Care study: the effect of pain on a patient with leg ulcers.
abstract: The following care study aims to explore the effects of wound-related pain on a patient with leg ulceration. The study illustrates current deficits within the author's clinical area, a day hospital for elderly people, in relation to how both a patient's pain and quality of life are measured. It suggests means by which this could be overcome, e.g. by the use of appropriate pain and quality of life pain measurement scales. The case study also highlights the hospital-community divide, with reference to communication and the exchange of information relating to a patient's pain. It advocates optimizing interdisciplinary team communication and discusses how developing closer working relationships and improving education can play a part in enhancing communication. While this case study is concerned with an individual patient, it aims to demonstrate that the problems identified and the resulting indications for clinical practice will promote an increasingly holistic view of the patient and benefit all future patients with leg ulceration.
authors.affiliation: Windsor Wing Day Hospital, Hemel Hempstead General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Flurrie
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000150:complications*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011788:Quality of Life