From the Editor: An Admiration for Healthcare Professionals

  When I think about wound care, I can’t help but remember my great-grandmother. Born in the late 1800s, she lived to be 100 years old. She lived a fairly healthy life, based on as much as I can remember and what I’ve been told by relatives (despite the rumors that she drank the occasional beer well into her 80s); but she couldn’t dodge a wealth of maladies in her last years and she began receiving hospice treatment in my family’s Northeast Philadelphia home while I was still in high school. I most distinctly remember her treatments for skin cancer and pressure ulcers — I assume because of the connotation the big “C” brings and how difficult it was for me to process the clinical reality of a bedsore as a teenager. That all changed the day I was needed to assist the hospice nurse in repositioning my grandmother for a dressing change. Although she was a petite woman, my “old grand-mom,” as she was known by her second generation of grandchildren, was difficult to shift because she didn’t have the strength to help us maneuver her. I remember feeling like I was going to break every bone in her body that I touched, the redness and dryness of her broken skin, and the look of pain on her face as we did our best to help her feel more “comfortable.” I just couldn’t believe how fragile her skin seemed and couldn’t shake the sensation that I was going to tear her flesh open at the elbows and knees.

  Once she was settled, I swiftly made my way out of the room, glancing back as the nurse tended to the wounds. In that moment I really grasped that our family was watching my grandmother die, and that the nurse was helping her to make that death as peaceful as possible. With that my true admiration for healthcare professionals was born.

Admirable Careers

  I freely admit I have a true sense of pride for the part I have played in the healthcare publishing industry for what’s now going on 10 years. Although I fully recognize my role as a journalist does not rank me among the “life-savers,” I take seriously the opportunity to help educate and enlighten those of you who are. I am not a credentialed provider, but as a journalist I’m trained to get to know people and subjects, and to share information with others — whether in a casual profile piece or an intricate, in-depth clinical article. Today, I’m here to get to know those of you who dedicate your lives to providing wound care. I’m also here to ask you to reach out to me and to let me know how we can continue to make Today’s Wound Clinic (TWC) a high-quality publication for you, the reader.

  April’s SAWC Spring Symposium is quickly approaching, and I’m eager to meet those of you who will be in attendance. I hope you’ll take the time to give me your opinions on the TWC print publication and website. What are we doing that makes you proud of us? What could we be doing better? Which aspects of the wound care business would you like to see presented in upcoming issues? Are you willing to be an author?

  TWC is not my publication. It’s yours. Its real value lies in the interest vested by readers and our Editorial Board in each issue and in the journal as a whole. I look forward to sharing this publication with you. Please know I respect and admire your dedication to wound care.

Joe Darrah, managing editor; jdarrah@hmpcommunications.com