title: Care study: the Leg Club Model and the sharing of knowledge.
abstract: The empowerment of patients can be considered an important part of the nurses' role in the management of chronic venous leg ulcers. This article describes how one individual's healing rate improved when she was given greater control over her own care by a partnership formed with her nursing team. The negative impact of a subsequent change to a more autocratic care regime is discussed. The authors investigate how nurse education, reflection and sharing best practice could overcome barriers to patients becoming more involved in their own individualized wound management and treatment. The role of the Leg Club Model (a clinic held in a social environment as opposed to a medical setting) in promoting an environment of collaborative working, open communication and knowledge sharing is examined.
authors.affiliation: Suffolk College, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK.
authors.forename: Ellie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: Jen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hawkins
mesh_terms: D001458:Bandages; D003142:Communication; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D017145:Models, Educational; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014945:Wound Healing