Management of Pressure Injury for Bedbound Client with Wound Care Courses at St Luke’s Hospital
Seniors or clients who are bedbound have been found to have an increased risk of developing pressure ulcers. Termed as a “hidden epidemic”, pressure ulcers or injuries impose heavy physical, emotional, psychological and financial costs to clients and families. If left untreated, these wounds would pose a serious health risk and severely lower a client’s quality of life.
To better care for clients, it is important for healthcare staff in the Community Care sector to enhance their wound care skills. Easing the pain and discomfort of bedbound clients from pressure ulcers or injuries will greatly enhance their quality of life.
As a home care staff nurse at Tzu Chi Foundation, Low Peck Khee, 60, visits clients at home for follow-up treatment post-discharge from a hospital or other medical care needs. She’s fully aware of the dangers of immobility and how many caregivers often lack the knowledge and time to manage such injuries.
Thus, she enrolled in a wound care course at St Luke’s Hospital to better look after her clients. By being able to identify the various types of pressure injuries and the various wound care products, Peck Khee hopes to provide holistic care for her clients.
“The course is very interactive, and the evidence-based knowledge and real-life case studies helped us in the learning process,” said Peck Khee. Most crucially, the trainer’s use of real-life case studies provided perspective and furthered her learning and thinking process.
Peck Khee hopes to use her newfound knowledge of wound care to help her clients to recover, improve their quality of life, and also relieve caregiver burden financially, physically and mentally.
Here’s an overview of wound care courses available at St Luke’s Hospital.
Wound Care (Basic) - E-learning and Online Teaching ($340, 16 hours via Zoom only)
This course equips participants with knowledge and skills to provide holistic wound care to clients. Through interactive segments and activities, course takers take a deeper dive into general skin assessment, skin tear stages and management, risk assessment and management of pressure injuries.
“The lessons, post-evaluations, and most importantly, the case studies, were essential to help us achieve our learning objectives,” said staff nurse Paraoan John Francis Abitong, who works at NTUC Health Nursing Home (Chai Chee). He recommends the course to healthcare professionals as a core competency to provide better care.
Wound Care (Intermediate) - Face-to-Face and Online Teaching ($3,500, 56 hours)
A comprehensive wound care course, caregivers will gain skills in wound assessment and evidence-based knowledge in wound management techniques as well as learn how to provide holistic wound care for clients. The course covers physiology of and factors affecting wound healing, types of wounds, the role of a wound nurse, types of wound products and cleansing solutions, management of pressure injury, introduction to leg ulcers, among others.
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (Intermediate) - Face-to-Face ($310, 8 hours)
The course teaches how Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) helps promote wound healing through contraction. The course covers correct wound assessment to identify which wounds are ideal for NPWT, the cautions in using the therapy, key features of NPWT devices, among others.
Wound Debridement (Intermediate) - Face-to-Face ($730, 8 hours)
Removing non-viable tissue from the wound bed is essential to the healing process and is a fundamental aspect of wound care. This course equips experienced and trained healthcare providers with the advanced knowledge and skills to perform wound debridement.
About St Luke’s Community Wound Centre in St Luke’s Hospital
"Set up in 2016, the St Luke’s Community Wound Centre aims to be a one-stop resource centre that provides integrated wound care management and build wound care knowledge and capability for healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers through education and training. Through our partnership with the ILTC sector to empower our community partners through training, we hope to improve the quality of life for more clients, helping them to recover and return home earlier,” said Yvonne Lau, Deputy Director, St Luke’s Community Wound Centre & Academy.
Visit the AIC’s Learning Network Course Marketplace website for the complete list of courses available from SLH. Under the “All Learning Institutes” drop-down list, select “Learning Institute – St Luke’s Hospital (SLH)”.
