SNF/LTC Nurses: Info needed

[babaloo8]

Hello!

I am putting together an exemplar to 'set the stage' for my thesis paper on the professional development needs of nurses delivering wound care in the outpatient setting.

I have been reading the many great posts that illustrate very nicely the struggles that exist for nurses trying to manage to growing number of patients with wounds.

My questions are:

1) on average, how many patients with wounds do you take of in one shift?

2) on average, how many patients are in the facility?

3) what are the top 3 most challenging problems within the work environment that make caring for patients with wounds challenging?

Thank you for your time!

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I work in a 265 bed facility,we have a very low number of wounds .As of this minute we don't have any greater then stage 2.The size of our units varies from 22 beds with one nurse to 45 beds with two nurses minimum.We are developing a wound care team.We admit people with whopping wounds and use wound vacs frequently.Our biggest challenges has been non -compliant residents,running out of the appropriate supplies on the unit and having to waste time running around to gather what you need and cost(and waste)

[babaloo8]

Great! Would you consider this ratio of nurse to beds to be fairly standard?

Wound Vacs can be tricky to apply correctly. How is the staff trained?

Thank you!

[ktwlpn, LPN]

We have excellent ratios for nursing homes in this area.The larger units staffed with two nurses usually have three Monday through Friday.When a resident is admitted with a wound vac in the unit nurses are trained by the nurse rep from the company when she brings in the supplies.We also have our wound care team to follow up with the addressing changes.We have several staff working on wound care cert and some have attained that.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I am using my Kindle today and the auto correct is crazy....