Post-Caesarean Section Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Using an Online Database and Mobile Phone Technology.

Background: Obstetric surgical site infections (SSIs) are common and expensive to the health care system but remain under reported given shorter postoperative hospital stays and suboptimal post-discharge surveillance systems. SSIs, for the purpose of this paper, are defined according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (1999) as infection incurring within 30 days of the operative procedure (in this case, Caesarean section [CS]).

Primary Objective: Demonstrate the feasibility of real-life use of a patient driven SSIs post-discharge surveillance system consisting of an online database and mobile phone technology (surgical mobile app - how2trak) among women undergoing CS in a Canadian urban centre.

Wound Dressings During Radiotherapy for Cancer: A Survey of Practice.

Background: Patients undergoing radiotherapy may experience changes to the skin that require dressings. Recommendations regarding radiating through wound dressings have been variable and relate to the concern regarding surface dose increase or bolus effect.

Objectives: The purpose of this article is to identify current evidence and practice through literature review and a national environmental scan.

Prescriptive authority for nurses: the Canadian perspective.

Purpose: This study aims to describe the role of prescriptive authority for nurses within Canada.

Conclusions: Prescriptive authority for Canadian nurses is linked to the development of advanced practice nursing generally and nurse practitioners specifically. Recent legislative changes allow nurse practitioners to function more independently regardless of the availability of medical practitioners.

Doing the right thing: using hermeneutic phenomenology to understand management of wound pain.

Despite the availability of assessment tools, analgesic medications, and technologically advanced dressings, achieving adequate pain control in wound care continues to present challenges for healthcare practitioners, patients, and their families. Pain in general has been the subject of much clinical and scientific investigation, but most has focused on the biological aspects of pain management. The psychological aspects of pain management and factors stemming from the relationship between caregivers and care recipients have received less attention.

Advanced practice nurses' role in the treatment of pain.

In 2003, the Canadian Association of Advanced Practice Nurses (CAAPN), with an educational grant from Purdue Pharma Canada, conducted a web-based survey to examine the pain management practices of advanced practice nurses (APNs). The survey objectives were to explore the role of APNs with respect to the treatment of pain, to determine the extent of their influence over treatment outcomes of patients with pain and to ascertain their level of knowledge of controlled-release pain medication. One hundred and sixteen surveys were collected.

Practical treatment of wound pain and trauma: a patient-centered approach. An overview.

Chronic wound pain is distressing and influences the patient's ability to function. One of the failures of modern medicine is the inadequate assessment and treatment of pain. The clinician's approach to chronic wound pain combines the "preparing the wound bed" paradigm with chronic wound pain models.