Abstract
A descriptive survey of current reported practice by 146 community nurses for their nursing treatment of leg ulcers was undertaken. Sixty-four per cent of nurses reported they would apply compression bandages to only venous ulcers; in only 23% of cases could the products described achieve an adequate level of compression. A variety of modern wound dressings were used by the nurses; 89% of nurses reported using a combination of different products layered over the ulcer. There is no evidence that this has any beneficial effect and could therefore be a potential waste of money, as well as contributing to allergic skin reactions. It would be useful if primary-health-care teams and Family Health Service Authority information pharmacists formulated protocols based upon effective treatments for patients with chronic leg ulcers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 159-168 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Nursing |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - May 1994 |