Wound Care and the Community Nurse
Dr Rachel Webb reports in the latest Journal of Wound Care on a meeting conducted in the House of Lords which was convened to discuss a National Wound Care Strategy. During the meeting it was stated that community nurses perform 74% of all wound care. However, over the past 8 years the number of community nurses has decreased by 50%. I suspect that similar statistics would be generated here in Australia. Dr Webb goes on to point out that a significant number of community nurses delivering wound care are either not using or are unaware of best practice guidelines (such as those proposed by professional wound management bodies). I suspect that this observation may also be true in the Australian context. She states that a key concern is that most community nursing groups are not adequately engaged in the process of setting strategies whereby best wound management practice can be defined, measured and implemented. Community nurses deserve a greater say in how wound care delivery is framed within both a national and local context.