How Wound Care Providers Can Treat Patients Like People, Not Like Cases

Finding a skilled wound care professional comes down finding someone who is confident in their skill/craft—someone who treats the whole patient, not just the wound. Finding someone who would see me as a person and a whole being rather than just a wound was important to me and allowed me to put trust into that provider.
 
I think skill goes beyond who made A’s in their medical courses, but indicates physicians who have good bedside manner, who have passion, and continue to learn. I think a physician with passion typically can be seen contributing to the medical community, collaborating with doctors, and furthering their education. All of these things to me are important, because specifically in the medical world things change, new studies come out, new products emerge, etc. It’s an ongoing process.
 
My wound was a result of my traumatic and emergency amputation. While still in the hospital, I did not always feel like an “expert” was available. There were physicians who came recommended, but upon meeting most of them, I did not feel comfortable trusting them with my case. It wasn't until we left inpatient that we found Caroline Fife, MD, two months after my October 2019 amputation (Figure 1), and we haven’t seen anyone else since.
 
I was referred to Dr. Fife by my orthopedic surgeon, Kyle Dickson, MD. He trusted Dr. Fife’s work and her ability to solve complex wound problems by looking at the whole case and the whole patient, and I am so glad we chose her.
 
For me the important part of my wound care experience is the physician and the supporting staff. These people are who will actively be caring for you and helping you and your family make decisions about a wound and your care. I drive 45+ min each way to see my wound care team—this is not something I particularly love, but I would drive double that for them. Of course, we all would love to not wait for a million years in a clinic waiting room and we hope the person at the front desk is welcoming and kind. But the reality is, when you need care and you have met the doctor you mesh with, you'll deal with all those minor things to see them.
 
Due to my traumatic situation, I have suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Going into wound care treatments can be scary and mentally difficult for me. When there are providers, nurses, or physicians who can't respect this or understand that I may need a moment to take a breath—this is where things turn negative and the trauma is amplified. So in terms of a negative experience, I can’t pinpoint one, but all of the “bad” experiences I have encountered revolve around not feeling like my feelings and trauma is considered, respected, and heard.

What I Wish More Doctors and Nurses Understood About Wound Care

Like I mentioned in my article, “The Patient’s Perspective: 5 Things People Should Know About Living with a Chronic Wound,” I want physicians to understand that wound care is just as much a mental thing as it is physical. Wound care is emotional, it is a roller coaster, and it requires the medical team to show the patient some grace. Wounds aren’t new to a wound care team, but for a patient … this is the first wound they may have seen—and oh yeah, it’s on their body! I want physicians to think of this and put it into perspective that they aren't just treating the wound, but the person it is attached to.
 
It’s easy to lose hope when a wound stops getting better (or gets worse). It’s easy to be mad at doctors and nurses and take frustrations out on them—even when you know they are doing their best and know they want you to get well nearly as much as you do.
 
I want my physicians and nurses to know that my reactions are not personal. The emotional journey is hard and unfortunately sometimes doctors and nurses get the brunt of it. Give patients space to process. Physicians can help manage patient fear and triggers through communication—asking what they can do to make a patient feel safer or more in control of the situation during the visit. Being open to adapting your methods to help fit a patient’s emotional needs is key to gaining their trust.
 
My wound is finally on the way out. When it’s gone, I will have to get used to not wearing a dressing and to taking a normal shower! It will be a whole new kind of adjustment, even though it’s a good one. Every step of the wound care journey requires some adjustment—even healing.
 
For nurses specifically: while yes, your care is valuable and important, especially in a wound care clinic, it is not your place to make judgments, “recommendations,” or provide opinions on what the doctor is doing right or wrong. This ends up driving a wedge between you and the patient, and ultimately you lose their trust. In one of the earlier visits to Dr. Fife’s clinic, we had a nurse other than our regular. Unfortunately, that nurse lost my trust by making unnecessary comments and giving unsolicited advice about my care, similar to what I mentioned above. After that, I was only willing to see one nurse … Donna.

Donna never let me feel unsafe. She would communicate her actions so I knew what to expect, she would give me positive words of encouragement, and she never went back on her word. All of those seemingly little things led to me trust her.
 
The wound care community—and honestly, the medical community in general—needs to do better in treating the patient like a whole human rather than just their diagnosis. I want to have people on my medical team who I trust, who know and understand me, and who I feel like are on my side.
 
I personally describe the physicians who are a part of my care as being “on my team.” I want team players, not just people with “MD” after their name. For the patient, being asked about their goals and dreams and then seeing a physician helping them work toward those, through healing, is empowering. I don't want my wound to heal for a case study, I want it to heal so I can swim—and my team knows that.
 
So when things get hard and I feel like giving up, they remind me … we are trying to get to that swimming pool. Improving the patient experience is simple: treat us like real people and value who we are as humans, not just another medical case.
 
Morgan McCoy is a two-time graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a BS in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She lives in Katy, TX, and just started her first job at Phillips 66 in their Marketing Department. Morgan loves to travel, spend time with family, and shop.

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