This year has pushed us as people, clinicians, academics, researchers and volunteers to new levels of stamina, courage and compassion. We have worked above and beyond to support our patients and colleagues in practice, our families and communities and to protect the most vulnerable. It is a time to reflect, to grieve for those we have lost and steady ourselves for the months and years to come as we prepare to move out of lockdown.
There also needs to be room to look forward, to maintain vision for ourselves in the field of tissue viability and to use this unique experience to our advantage: to grow and learn so that we make the most of this incredibly difficult situation.
Despite the upheaval, we have seen the field of wound care and nursing produce some important contributions in recent months. Applications to nursing courses in England are up by over a third to 48 830 this year, from 35 960 at the same point last year, a 34% increase (Department of Health and Social Care, 2021). From having interviewed candidates for the upcoming adult nursing programme, I feel enthusiastic that the future of our profession remains bright. We must nurture the next generation, lead by example, and always support questions, innovation and eager minds who want to change, strengthen and explore.
Tissue viability must evolve to meet the ever-changing clinical and psychosocial needs of our patients. We must continue to adapt, flexibly and with vision, to address the clinical and health economic burden of chronic wounds in the UK. Guest et al (2020) have highlighted a 71% increase in the annual prevalence of wounds in the NHS between 2012/2013 and 2017/2018 (accounting for 3.8 million wounds a year, requiring 54.4 million district/community nurse visits, 53.6 million healthcare assistant visits and 28.1 million practice nurse visits). The annual cost of wound care was £8.3 billion, of which £5.6 billion was associated with managing unhealed wounds.
The National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) continues to go from strength to strength. It has recently published recommendations to improve the care of people with surgical wounds (NWCSP, 2021). To find the latest news and discover how you can get involved, visit the website (https://tinyurl.com/15ekzi19).
We continue to celebrate and learn together virtually with a number of wound care events and awards continuing online. From 8 to 12 March the BJN Awards will return as a week-long online event, to celebrate the efforts of nurses during the pandemic (www.bjnawards.co.uk).
I will be offering some virtual coaching sessions over the next few months to nurses new to tissue viability or those who may be considering their next job application, interview or postgraduate course. If this applies to you, or if you know of someone who would benefit from one-to-one free coaching over coffee, drop me an email or direct message me on Twitter (@woundnurseUK).
I could not complete my editorial without a shout out to our charitable sector friends and volunteers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. Top of my list is to complete my application for the Samaritans as a listening volunteer. If you are interested in finding out more about the Samaritans, visit the website (https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/volunteer/).
There are also some useful websites that provide support for nurses:
There are many exciting months ahead for tissue viability and I urge you all to find your niche within wound care, unearth your passion and set some goals, both short term and long term. I have always campaigned for wound care to be established as a physical health need in its own right in the healthcare of homeless people, so that skin health and wound care would have its own specialist service within the homeless sector. Want to learn more? Join me on 18 March for a free event on addressing leg ulceration in the homeless population, with some great speakers and patient stories. RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/142517789545.