The Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Teamwork Across Care Settings and Transitions of Care.

The increasing complexity of health care and the growing demand for safe, high-quality health care have underscored the crucial need for interdisciplinary teams in health care. As people are living longer, a myriad of complex health care needs arise, necessitating specialized care from various health care professionals. Interdisciplinary teams include a group of health care professionals with various areas of expertise who work together to achieve mutual goals on behalf of a patient and their other significant individuals.

Evaluation of the Impact of the Wound Treatment Associate (WTA) Education Program on Practice and Quality Patient Outcomes.

Purpose: The Wound Treatment Associate (WTA) program is an education offering of the WOCN Society. This evidence-based continuing education program prepares nurses to serve as a unit-based resource for nursing staff. The WTA program is approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Association (ANCC) for 32.

Identifying gaps, barriers, and solutions in implementing pressure ulcer prevention programs.

Background: Patients continue to suffer from pressure ulcers (PUs), despite implementation of evidence-based pressure ulcer (PU) prevention protocols. In 2009, Joint Commission Resources (JCR) and Hill-Rom created the Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence (nurse scholar) program to foster the professional development of expert nurse clinicians to become translators of evidence into practice. The first nurse scholar activity has focused on PU prevention.

Matching patient safety goals to the nursing specialty: using wound, ostomy, continence nursing services.

With increasing nursing specialization, administrators may not have clear guidelines directing which specialists should be targeting specific patient populations and specific patient care issues. Because pressure ulcers are an important indicator of quality of care, this discussion focuses on selecting the appropriate wound, ostomy, continence specialist to develop and support programs that are designed to prevent pressure ulcers, treat patients with pressure ulcers, as well as management of other types of wounds, stomas, fistulas, incontinence, and skin breakdown. Nurse leaders are in a position to ensure that appropriate resources are available to support the development of hospital programs that will promote safe, efficient, and cost-conscious patient care.