Venous leg ulcer management in general practice--practice nurses and evidence based guidelines

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Wound Management

Background:

• Venous leg ulcers are a common chronic wound issue in general practice.
• Practice nurses often manage these ulcers, with compression therapy improving healing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore current practice nurse management of venous leg ulcers.
• To determine if evidence-based guidelines are used in managing these ulcers.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was conducted within a metropolitan general practice network.
• The survey focused on practice nurse management of venous leg ulcers.

Main Results:

• Most practice nurses lack confidence in using Doppler for ankle brachial pressure index measurement before compression.
• Nurses are often not responsible for applying compression therapy.
• Referrals are commonly made to wound clinics or vascular surgeons, with access and cost as barriers.

Conclusions:

• Practice nurse knowledge regarding venous leg ulcer management is suboptimal.
• Current management practices do not align with evidence-based guidelines.