Southlanders pioneer wound care treatment

New Zealand pioneers in wound care, Southland’s Clinical Nurse Specialist Wound, Mandy Pagan and her colleagues, continue to take Southern innovation to the fore with wound care professionals nationally, in Australia and around the globe.
 

The prestigious publication, The Australian Wound and Practice Research Journal, in December published the fourth paper Mandy has written on innovative wound care practices she and her colleagues have developed in Southland. Two of these papers have won Coloplast Biatain Australasian Literary Awards.

 

Titled, ‘Implementing a pilot skin and wound care programme in two residential aged care facilities’, the December paper, co-authored by Registered Nurse Phyl Harvey, reports the findings of a six month project where wound specialists worked with the staff and patients of two Southland rest homes to improve wound care; and outcomes for residents.

 

It is the latest achievement in nearly 20 years of championing simple and practical wound care innovation by a committed team of Southland nurses.

 

Another Southland innovation that has attracted attention and is in use around the globe, is “The Southland Snail”, which was designed by the nurse-led wound clinic. It is an award-winning pressure device – a simple yet ingenious solution made by wrapping wound stocking into a ‘snail’ shape to help chronic venous leg ulcers.

 

Passionate, practical and driven, Mandy stresses the importance of sharing your knowledge with others.

 

With this in mind, the pilot skin and wound care programme conducted in Southland included development of resources and guides for rest home carers and nurses to encourage preventative skin care.

 

She continues to work with the rest homes and on hospital wards, providing “hot tips” resources and checking wound prevention equipment. She also has roles in teaching and leadership, including as current President of the New Zealand Wound Care Society.

 

Mandy credits Southland and the people she works with for making practical advances in wound care. “We can do a lot here in Southland – you don’t have to be at the top of the world in a big metropolitan hospital to achieve things,” she said.