Description
A supernumerary nurse was working with me for the first week of their familiarisation period. Our patient was a thirty-nine year old woman, Ms LC, who had undergone a laparoscopic peritonectomy. She had a midline abdominal wound that showed slow wound healing. The wound clinical nurse consultant and the doctors during their ward round decided to introduce NPWT to Ms LC’s wound, as this would allow faster healing of her wound.
It was Ms LC’s first time to have NPWT on her wound, patient education was provided ensuring a thorough understanding about the procedure. At the same time, a verbal consent was obtained before commencing on NPWT making sure that Ms LC was fully aware of the process and the possible interventions that can be used throughout the treatment, which Ms LC consented to go ahead. …show more content…
We trimmed the foam and placed the fitted foam in Ms LC’s wound. Upon securing the foam, we covered it with drapes and made a small hole at the centre of the dressing to place the vacuum connector and turned on the NPWT. We waited for some time until the indicator on the machine displayed no air leakage. We also documented in the progress notes what we have performed, filled out the wound chart, and informed the nurse in-charge on the frequency of dressing change in a week.
On the following day during our patient’s handover, we checked the NPWT and it was still in its original place. However, the NPWT was producing a beeping sound, which Ms LC thought was normal. According to Ms LC, it had made noise overnight but did not bother telling the night nurse on duty. We told Ms LC that the NPWT should not make any alarms otherwise troubleshooting was needed. Upon checking on the NPWT machine indicator, it showed an air leak description on the display.
A supernumerary nurse was working with me for the first week of their familiarisation period. Our patient was a thirty-nine year old woman, Ms LC, who had undergone a laparoscopic peritonectomy. She had a midline abdominal wound that showed slow wound healing. The wound clinical nurse consultant and the doctors during their ward round decided to introduce NPWT to Ms LC’s wound, as this would allow faster healing of her wound.
It was Ms LC’s first time to have NPWT on her wound, patient education was provided ensuring a thorough understanding about the procedure. At the same time, a verbal consent was obtained before commencing on NPWT making sure that Ms LC was fully aware of the process and the possible interventions that can be used throughout the treatment, which Ms LC consented to go ahead. …show more content…
We trimmed the foam and placed the fitted foam in Ms LC’s wound. Upon securing the foam, we covered it with drapes and made a small hole at the centre of the dressing to place the vacuum connector and turned on the NPWT. We waited for some time until the indicator on the machine displayed no air leakage. We also documented in the progress notes what we have performed, filled out the wound chart, and informed the nurse in-charge on the frequency of dressing change in a week.
On the following day during our patient’s handover, we checked the NPWT and it was still in its original place. However, the NPWT was producing a beeping sound, which Ms LC thought was normal. According to Ms LC, it had made noise overnight but did not bother telling the night nurse on duty. We told Ms LC that the NPWT should not make any alarms otherwise troubleshooting was needed. Upon checking on the NPWT machine indicator, it showed an air leak description on the display.