Leg Ulcer Management - Essential Clinical Skills for Nurses
- Published: 16 September 2008 15:58
- Last Updated: 16 September 2008 16:10
- Reader Responses
Brenda King reviews the latest offering on the management of leg ulcers
Anyone involved in leg ulcer care will be excited to see a new book on the subject, and it is pleasing to see how well this is written providing a comprehensive text on leg ulcer management.
The book comprises 16 chapters divided into five sections, starting with a detailed account of the development of leg ulcer services in Wandsworth, London. It provides a practical look at how the service was developed, highlighting the impact of changes in health care organisations on the service and the challenges for the professionals involved. This clearly demonstrates how care delivery needs to be responsive to change, and will support practitioners in other organisations. This section also provides examples of the care pathway and the documentation used.
The following section details the clinical assessment process and diagnosis of leg ulcers with supporting chapters covering venous disease, arterial disease and ulceration of other aetiologies, also including the rarer causes.
Careful consideration is given to the assessment and management of some of the wider issues of leg ulceration, such as the psychosocial dimensions including uncontrolled chronic pain, attitudes towards leg ulcers from other health professionals, emotional aspects and health-related quality of life issues.
The text then moves onto the clinical management of leg ulcers including wound bed preparation using the TIME framework. This section also provides some excellent practical tips and guidance on bandaging. The final section is an invaluable account of methods of evaluating a leg ulcer service, an important consideration when planning, providing and delivering any form of health care.
Each chapter provides learning objectives, a summary, succinct conclusion and all are extensively referenced. The whole book is well supported throughout with examples, images and diagrams and case studies where appropriate.
The benefit of the book is its comprehensiveness to the subject and its suitability to all those involved in leg ulcer care whether expert or novice.
Click here to view this book on Amazon
