Our Goal for a New Year

The year 2017 was a very busy but eventful year for me. I had the opportunity to travel the world to help educate practitioners in the management of wounds and to help others in establishing wound treatment programs for their locations. It is a great responsibility to be asked to share information with others so that they can help their people wherever it may be around the world. Interestingly, I was told by a woman at a program in Africa that she was surprised that I would give away my “power” so readily. She told me that knowledge was power and by sharing my information with everyone, I was giving away my power. I did not know what to say, but I was able to respond that I was not giving away my “power” but sharing it with her and the others so that all of us could take care of our patients better. No matter what my answer had been, it caused me to consider how I could convince other practitioners to share what they were learning with others for the good of all. Information and knowledge is not worth much if it stays with one person.

As many of you know, my wife and I host physicians and nurses from around the world in our home and wound center to learn more about good wound management. A practicing surgeon from Haiti just returned home after spending 2 weeks with us and learning with me in our wound center. He was amazed at the difference in approach to the patients he saw in our center compared with how they approach patients with wounds at his hospital in Haiti. Even though we both see the same types of wounds, he noted that we seem to try to instill a sense of hope in each and every one of our patients as we treat their wounds. I tell anyone who will listen that it is very important to us to make our patients feel that there is hope for them and their wound. As I am sure is true of anyone’s wound center, the majority of patients sent to us come as a “last resort” for any treatment. Many have been told they need an amputation or that they just need to learn to live with their wounds. Unfortunately, some will require an amputation, but the great majority can have a limb salvaged or their wounds improved or healed with appropriate wound care and the judicious use of advanced therapies. In a word, we are providing hope for our patients. In today’s medical climate, I feel that the most important thing we can provide our patients is a sense of hope; with this, patients will know there are people who care about them and their problems and that we will do our best to make them better. It is amazing how much this helps with our treatments. If patients think there is hope they can improve or heal, they are more compliant with the therapy, and this positive attitude improves healing.¹

As we enter a new year, I would encourage each of you to consider 2 things when approaching wound treatment. First, give your power away. We want to share the best approach to wound care with everyone who will listen — not because we want to show how much we know, but so all patients with wounds can receive good care. And second, give the gift of hope to your patients — hope that there is a chance they can improve or even heal, but if that does not work out, hope that there is someone standing beside them who will care for and be with them all the way.