NURSE and consultant Jan Rice hopes raising the profile of wound care will result in better outcomes for Wimmera residents.
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Ms Rice addressed about 70 health care professionals at a wound care management workshop at Grains Innovation Park in Horsham on Tuesday.
The workshop, an initiative of Grampians Medicare Local, provided information about best practice to bush nurses, aged-care workers, district nurses, general practitioners and podiatrists.
Ms Rice, who has more than 30 years of specific wound training, said people with chronic wounds suffered physically, emotionally and financially.
‘‘People with wounds often don’t speak up and ask for help,’’ she said. ‘‘There is a lot of media about cancer and heart disease, but not a lot about wound care. Wounds are not going to kill you, but they are smelly and disgusting and weep and make people’s lives miserable.’’
The Australian Wound Management Association estimates as many as 300,000 Australians experience chronic wounds requiring management.
‘‘On any given day, 160,000 Australians are having a venous leg wound dressed,’’ Ms Rice said.
She said one in three people aged 65 or older would develop a venous leg ulcer.
‘‘When people who spend a lot of time standing or sitting get older, their skin gets thinner and they can spring a leak,’’ she said.
‘‘With an ageing population, this issue is only going to escalate.
‘‘Diabetes and obesity also bring wounds.
‘‘If infection sets in, people will be required to take antibiotics and they can be in pain.’’
People travelled from Ballarat and across the Wimmera and Mallee to attend the workshop.
Sea Lake community nurse Liz Rinaldi said the session gave health professionals a better understanding of wound care.
‘‘If a resident has a wound, we need to know at what stage we need intervention,’’ she said.
She said discovering the signs could lead to earlier intervention, saving patients pain, discomfort and the expense of caring for wounds.
Wimmera Health Care Group podiatrist Mark Robinson said because heath professionals from different areas worked on the same patients, it was important to be on the same page.
‘‘We deal with wound care every day,’’ he said.
‘‘There are different ways of dealing with wounds, so this information session helps to give us an understanding of what we should be doing, so we all approach wounds in the same way.’’
Grampians Medicare Local primary care co-ordinator Karen Ware said the workshop was well received.
Ms Rice said people could visit www.awma.com.au for more information about wound care.