Nursing treatment of patients with chronic leg ulcers in the community

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
• 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.