Hiske Smart

Hyperuricaemia is the underlying cause of a condition commonly known as gout. Patients with hyperuricaemia may be asymptomatic for life or may experience frequent attacks of painful gouty arthritis. Gout is, therefore, a condition with both acute and chronic characteristics.

The WCET™ recently held its very successful 21th Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. WCET™ nursing practice involves the prevention and treatment of skin and wound problems. Advocating for care models that can enhance the treatment of wounds or prevent them entirely is therefore an important part of the work of WCET™.

Burns are among the most common and devastating forms of trauma. Increased morbidity and mortality accompany thermal injury, and survival is dependent on the correct assessment and management. Although acute treatment regimens and dressing selection have evolved to improve outcomes, deep burn injuries often leave patients with considerable cosmetic and functional disabilities, which may lead to a lifetime of challenges. Patients with major burns should be referred to a burn unit or multidisciplinary centre where the primary objective is to care for burn patients and to optimise their outcomes. Such centres comprise teams of specialist burn surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, social workers and nursing staff, as well as other consultants, who all strive to obtain rapid wound closure and return burn survivors to a functional and well adapted life.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is the use of 100% oxygen, breathed under pressure and delivered to tissues by the circulation, to achieve a therapeutic benefit. Under hyperbaric conditions oxygen attains medicinal properties. Time and pressure of the exposure provide the specific "dose" and "tissue level" required to achieve the effect. HBO provides a pressure-related increase in plasma-borne oxygen. This increases total blood oxygen content by 20-25% and markedly improves free (i.e. dissolved) oxygen delivery to tissues, increasing the diffusion distance from the capillaries into tissues several fold. At these increased tissue levels, oxygen initiates a series of distinct physiological and pharmacological effects.

Industrial infrared thermometry devices are large and, despite being less expensive than the current gold standard Exergen Dermatemp medical infrared thermometer, are still not affordable enough to ensure unrestricted and consistent use of this assessment modality in regular wound-related day-to-day practice. An increased skin surface temperature differentiation of 3°F associated with a wound has a positive predictive ability to detect deep or surrounding wound infection. This study hypothesised that inexpensive, pen- or pocket-sized, no-touch surface infrared thermometry devices will be equal in ability to detect a 3oF increased skin temperature compared to the Exergen Dermatemp infrared device and be reliable in the hands of any wound assessor. The odds of the control and other thermometers to detect a 3oF temperature difference, irrespective of the raters, were achieved in all five of the mini thermometers tested, with a correct temperature difference prediction that occurred in ...

To determine the pressure injury knowledge of health professionals before and after providing an interactive, educational intervention. The research design was a quasi-experimental study using a nonrandomized pretest/posttest methodology in Manila, Philippines. The population for this study was healthcare professionals who participated in a 2-day Basic WoundPedia course. There were 57 participants on day 1 and 55 participants on day 2. The Pieper-Zulkowski Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (PZ-PUKT, version 2), a standardized, validated instrument with 72 items, was used to measure 3 domains: prevention (28 items), staging (20 items), and wounds (24 items). The test was used to determine the baseline pressure injury knowledge of the students on day 1 before the course began and on day 2 after related content was completed. The intent of this approach was to document that knowledge deficits were met, especially for future courses. There was a statistically significant increase in pressure injury knowledge scores after healthcare professionals received an interactive, educational intervention. Measuring knowledge before and after educational intervention should be considered to determine whether knowledge deficits are corrected. This methodology reinforced the adult learning theory and to help participants realize their own knowledge deficits. The PZ-PUKT may prove a valuable nonthreatening instrument for adult learners to self-identify, self-learn, and self-correct knowledge according to the best new evidence as it becomes available. These findings documented that this interactive, educational intervention did improve the percentage of correct pressure injury knowledge concepts for this group in all 3 subscales. This study also added support for the newly revised PZ-PUKT.

To determine the opinions of healthcare clinicians in the Philippines regarding the 2016 National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) terminology changes and revised staging definitions. A survey methodology was used in Manila, Philippines. Convenience samples of healthcare clinicians of varying disciplines and employment settings were invited to participate in this research. A survey was administered at key intervals regarding the revised NPUAP terminology changes and revised staging definitions. The survey was administered before and after an interactive, basic 2-day wound course was conducted. Results revealed strong support for the 2016 NPUAP terminology change from pressure ulcer to pressure injury and the revised staging definitions. Since the NPUAP changed its terminology and revised the staging definitions, the wound care community has been responding to those changes. Because pressure injuries are a global health concern, the opinions of clinicians outside the United Stat...

As of July 1994, there were 565,856 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons in South Africa, half of whom were 18-25 years of age, and 27% of the adult population is likely to be infected by the year 2010 if current risk behaviors persist. By 2005, the cost of ...