A senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield recently celebrated the publication of her first book.

Dr Karen Ousey, of the Department of Adult and Children's Nursing in the School of Human and Health Sciences, co-edited the textbook with former Huddersfield academic Dr. Caroline McIntosh,

Entitled Lower Extremity Wounds: A Problem-Based Approach, the book is the first of its kind that has been written as a joint venture by experienced nurses and podiatrists, all with expert knowledge in wound care. Aimed at both students and practitioners, the book is described as "essential reading" for anyone involved in lower extremity wound care.

It highlights the importance of multi-professional collaboration to encourage the crossing and dismantling of professional boundaries, to increase understanding of each other's roles, and to ensure that the patient receives the best available evidence-based interventions during their health care journey.

Lower limb wounds are frequently observed in clinical practice and often present a real challenge for health care practitioners. Lower extremity wound care requires a multidisciplinary approach involving a number of different health care professionals in order to achieve optimum patient care. Nurses and podiatrists, in particular, are frequently involved in the assessment and management of lower extremity wounds, often working in partnership.

Taking a problem-based learning approach, each of the ten chapters of the text highlight best practice in the management of wounds by type, discusses clinical guidelines and current evidence, and links this theory to a clinical scenario thus bridging the theory to practice gap.

The School of Human and Health Sciences at the University recently hosted a one day summer conference focussing on the assessment, diagnosis and management of diabetic foot ulcers. The day was sponsored by Molnlycke Health Care and attracted over 90 registered nurses and podiatrists.

The day was opened by Professor Richard White, the first Professor in Tissue Viability from the University of Worcester. Prof White delivered the keynote speech, discussing the use of soft silicone dressings and other speakers included Dr. Caroline McIntosh, National University of Ireland, Galway; Paul Chadwick Diabetes Specialist Podiatrist, Salford and Una Adderley Tissue Viability Prescribing Specialist Nurse, North Yorkshire and York PCT. The day was chaired by Dr Karen Ousey from the Department of Adult and Children's Nursing, University of Huddersfield.

"The Department of Adult and Children's Nursing is working closely with the Division of Podiatry in developing inter-professional education between nurses and podiatrist in the field of wound care, said Dr Ousey. "It is hoped that if the two professional groups learn together they will appreciate each others roles and work in a seamless fashion within the clinical areas administering effective evidence based care to their clients."

Lower Extremity Wounds: A Problem Based Approach (Paperback)
by Karen Ousey (Editor), Caroline McIntosh (Editor)
Paperback: 310 pages
Publisher: WileyBlackwell (7 Dec 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0470059087
ISBN-13: 978-0470059081
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