Angela, O and Adderley, U orcid.org/0000-0003-1894-3755 (2019) Survey of registered nurses’ selection of compression systems for the treatment of venous leg ulcers in the UK. Journal of Tissue Viability, 28 (2). pp. 115-119. ISSN 0965-206X
Abstract
Background: Venous leg ulceration is common in older adults in the United Kingdom. The gold-standard treatment is compression therapy. There are several compression bandage and hosiery systems that can be prescribed or purchased, but it was unclear what types of compression systems are currently being used to treat venous leg ulceration within the UK. This online scoping survey of registered nurses sought to (1) to identify what compression systems are available across the UK, (2) how frequently these are in use and (3) if there are any restrictions on their use.
Results: The results showed that registered nurses who treat patients with venous leg ulceration use a wide range of compression systems. The most frequently used systems are the ‘less bulky’ two-layer elastic and inelastic compression bandaging systems whilst two-layer hosiery was used less frequently and four-layer bandaging used infrequently. Nurses report that certain compression systems are less accessible through the usual procurement routes but this appears to be related to concerns about competency in application techniques.
Conclusions: The data in this survey provides some important insights into the issues around the use of compression therapy for venous leg ulceration in the UK. Limiting access to certain types of compression may promote patient safety but limit patient choice. There may be underuse of the types of compression that promote patient independence, such as hosiery, and over-use of potentially sub-therapeutic therapy such as ‘reduced compression’. Overall, this study suggests that further consideration is needed about the provision of compression therapy to UK patients with venous leg ulceration to optimise care and patient choice.
Metadata
Authors/Creators: |
|
---|---|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Tissue Viability Society. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Tissue Viability. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Bandages; Community health nursing; Leg ulcer; Research; Varicose ulcer; Wound healing |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Healthcare (Leeds) > Nursing Adult (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Feb 2019 14:59 |
Last Modified: | 21 Feb 2020 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtv.2019.02.004 |
Download
Filename: Oates A and Adderley U Compression Survey JTV 2019.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0