Wound Care Certificate Series

Over 100 million people acquire scars annually and 70% are children! Scars come with physical and psychological impacts that can be assessed therapeutically. Various co- morbidities include contracture, pain, and poor self-esteem. The course will cover reliable psychometric and objective assessment tools for evaluating scar adhesion and appearance. In addition, topical agents that can be used to decrease keloid scarring will be discussed. Demonstrations will allow participants to practice using the Adheremeter toassess scar tissue, review scar massage techniques, andelastic therapeutic taping strategies. Come get re-acquainted with the system of skin!

• Evidence-based assessments and interventions for postoperative scars in the pediatric population
• Immediately improve pain, pliability, andappearance of postoperative scars and outcomes through the application of various techniques

"Significant advances in wound dressing technology have resulted in a myriad of dressing choices for wound-careclinicians, providing more than just an inert wound cover. The establishment of a moist wound environment under modern wound dressings and the optimization of the healing responseare now the goals expected of these dressings. However, the use of wound dressings, particularly traditional dressings such as gauze, frequently results in wound and peri-wound tissue damage that impairs the wound healing response, counteracting any of the dressings' healing benefits. Therefore, to maximize the healing benefits wounds covered by today's wound dressings must minimize tissue disturbance (physical as well as chemical)."

Rippon M, Davies P, White R. Taking the trauma out of wound care: the importance of undisturbed healing. J Wound Care. 2012 Aug;21(8):359-60, 362, 364-8. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2012.21.8.359. PMID: 22885308.

Clinicians attending this course will learn how to assesschronic wound composition, exudate, and othercharacteristics to drive their dressing choices. This will resultin improving their patient outcomes with evidence-basedchronic wound dressing application. It is now more importantthan ever to understand the dressing choices that are available, the frequency in which they need to be changed and appropriation of choices to provide our patients with the best wound care possible and least amount of trauma andpain along with it.

• Determining the most effective advanced wound dressings and the impact on the microbiology of the wound
• Best practices and guidelines for treatments of this population to improve your outcomes and patient satisfaction

"Being able to identify and treat wounds caused by uncommon etiologies, also known as atypical wounds, is a crucial skill. As the US population ages, and as humans are exposed to an increasingly diverse spectrum of microorganisms and mechanical injuries, atypical wounds willpresent more frequently to wound specialists."

Atypical Wounds: Recognizing and Treating the Uncommon Anderson, Julie PhD, RN, CCRC; Hanson, Darlene MS, RN; Langemo, Diane PhD, RN, FAAN; Hunter, Susan MSN, RN; Thompson, Patricia MS, RN

Clinicians involved in treatment of wounds will benefit from increased knowledge in differential diagnosis, recognition of these atypical wounds and how to treat them to improve their patient outcomes and decrease time forhealing. This course will improve your ability to create an appropriate plan of care and intervention strategy as well as red flags for further medical referral. Wound care is a muchneeded and growing field of therapy and it is critical to improve clinical knowledge to provide the best evidence- based care as possible.

• Confidently assess and diagnose 4 specific atypical wounds - Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), Pyoderma gangrenosum, Calciphylaxis, and Necrotizing fasciitis (NF)
• Differential diagnosis, red flag specific comorbidities that are often correlated with these atypical wounds
• Typical treatment regiments associated with these atypical wounds

"Chronic wounds are those that do not progress through a normal, orderly, and timely sequence of repair. They are common and are often incorrectly treated. The morbidity and associated costs of chronic wounds highlight the need to implement wound prevention and treatment guidelines."

Bowers S, Franco E. Chronic Wounds: Evaluation and Management. Am Fam Physician. 2020 Feb 1;101 (3):159-166. PMID: 32003952.

This course is aimed at helping the therapist in clinically evaluating and documenting the chronic wound. To improve recognition of different tissue composition, appropriate wound documentation and how this impacts their clinical decision making for this patient. By improving their wound composition understanding, they can then improve the treatmentmodalities and topical applications that are utilized with these patients. This course will provide case studies to demonstrate the application of this information and how the therapist can put these skills into immediate action.

• Improve your knowledge of working with advanced wound dressings, their function and impact on the microbiology of the wound
• Best practices and guidelines for treatments of this population
• Improve your outcomes and patient satisfaction

An estimated 100 million patients per year acquire scars from surgery in the developed world; with an estimated $12 billion annual market in the United States for scar treatment (Marshal et al., 2018). Disturbing perceptions such as pain,tenderness, or itchiness, along with functional limitations in the form of contractures, are consequences of problematic scars (Deflorin, et al., 2020). Regardless of the type of surgical procedure, all forms of surgery result in scarring. Scarring can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life as it effects emotional, social, and physical functioning. Individuals with visible scars, particularly on the face, often suffer greater social stigma and psychological trauma as well. This course will provide insights into typical skin healing, wounds, scar development, classification, and evaluation of scars, along with covering assessment tools and clinical considerations.

• Deepen your knowledge of the body's largest organ (skin) along with typical scar development, wounds, and skin healing
• Evaluation and classification of scars, assessment tools, and clinical considerations

An estimated 100 million patients per year acquire scars from surgery in the developed world; with an estimated $12 billion annual market in the United States for scar treatment (Marshal et al., 2018). Disturbing perceptions such as pain,tenderness, or itchiness, along with functional limitations in the form of contractures, are consequences of problematic scars (Deflorin, et al., 2020). Regardless of the type of surgical procedure, all forms of surgery result in scarring.Scarring can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life as it effects emotional, social, and physical functioning. Individuals with visible scars, particularly on the face, often suffer greater social stigma and psychological trauma as well. This course will provide insights into the clinical treatments indicated for best practice scar management including manual therapy, taping, exercise, specific tools, products, and creams, along with covering specific scars from breast and head and neck cancer, along with orthopedic and cardiac surgery related scarring.

• Improve your ability to provide safe and effective treatment options for scars developed from surgical procedures and trauma
• Increase your understanding of various modalities and products often used in the management of scars

"Pressure injuries of the skin and soft tissues affect an estimated 1 to 3 million people in the United States each year. The incidence differs based on the clinical setting." (Mondragon N, Zito PM) Pressure ulcers are a preventable event in a lot of cases, and we as therapists play an integral part in prevention for our patients. If we take proper steps, document accordingly and educate our coworkers and staff we can make a big impact as therapists on prevention.

This course will increase the clinician's knowledge base in prevention and recognition of pressure ulcers as well as guide their plan of care. Subsequently, apt recognition willlead to strategies to target the prevention, offloading pressure with appropriate devices. This will improve both wound outcomes and the quality of life for the patient as it directs treatment to reduce pressure, promotes therapist and patientawareness in self-care, and assists therapists in development of appropriate long-term plans for patient pressure ulcer prevention and wound treatment.

• Improve your understanding of pressure ulcer development, assessment, prevention, and pathophysiology
• Best practices and guidelines for treatments of pressure ulcers

Venous leg ulcers present painful problems for patients and challenges to health care providers who treat them. One study showed 10%-35% of the population has a type of venous disease and 1%-22% of individuals over 60 have lower extremity skin ulcers (Sieggreen).

This course is focused on showing clinicians how to treatthis patient population and how to optimize reimbursement for appropriate and justified care. The material covered in thiscourse will result in improving patient outcomes with evidence-based evaluation and clinical practice ofappropriate edema management, wound care, andcompression therapies. It is now more important than ever tounderstand the pathology behind this disease and improve our treatment and prevention of chronic ulcerations andedema in this ever-growing population in our nation.

• Improve your understanding of chronic venous insufficiency and its direct impact on the body
• Best practices and guidelines for treatments of this population
• Improve your outcomes and patient satisfaction

As a large percentage of our population ages, coupled with an increase in comorbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular complications, it is logical to estimate that the number of chronic wounds will continue to accelerate. Therefore, knowledge and implementation of evidence-based wound care is critical to improving the outcomes for this population. Not only is it vital to provide the best quality of care for the patient, it is also critical for reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies.

This one-day workshop will provide you with the knowledge base and tools to provide advanced, up to date wound assessment. It will equip you with clinical skills important for the wound care professional in multiple environments. In addition to improving your knowledge base for clinical wound care and efficient treatment strategies, you will also be able to identify different types of compression wraps, advanced wound dressings, debridement techniques, and the importance of Arterial Brachial Index (ABI). This workshop will also help guide you in identification of wound etiologies, tissue composition, debridement techniques, and practical strategies for implementation in the clinical setting. Participants will learn how to incorporate evidence-based assessments into a plan of care and establish appropriate and measurable goals to track progression of wounds, as wellas prevention of new wounds.

*Hands on lab will be modified for Web based delivery formats into recorded demonstrations

• Immediately improve your critical thinking anddecision-making with practical assessment of skin, wounds, and edema in the clinical setting
• Practice and review dressing selection/applications, edema management, and chronic wound treatments
• Logical assessment and reassessment strategies for chronic wounds and edema immediately applicable to all practice settings
• Current, evidence-based interventions for the chronic wound and edema patient to be used in your daily practice
• Hands-on lab for debridement, compression application, and bedside vascular assessments