A workshop on advanced wound care competencies held during the II International Conference on Advanced Nursing and Midwifery Practice in Warsaw revealed overwhelming support for expanding nurses’ clinical authority in wound management.
The current state of care for patients with hard-to-heal wounds poses serious challenges for the healthcare system. Although there are no relevant statistics, it is estimated that up to one million Poles suffer from chronic wounds, which have enormous health, social, and economic consequences. Arterial or venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers and cancer ulcers, surgical site infections and complications of healing after surgery are the main types of wounds responsible for the enormous physical and mental suffering of patients.
Advanced Practice Nurses (APN) are a desirable career path for nurses in over 70 countries around the world. Services provided by highly qualified nurses are safe for patients and bring systemic economic benefits. APN in wound care is most visible in Australia. The implementation of the APN concept began in 2013 at the Specialist Hospital in Wejherowo, where the first APN Nurse position in Poland was created in the field of chronic wound and pressure ulcer management.
This year, in addition to doctors and nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists, clinical dieticians and pharmacists, medical and podiatric caregivers, and medical students joined the Congress participants.
On June 15-17 this year, Kazimierz Dolny took place Scientific and Training Conference of the Polish Wound Management Association under the motto “Together we create the history of wound treatment in Poland”. There are numerous lecture sessions and workshops for this time, all in terms of daily practice. Specialists practising various medical professions met to discuss the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds.