Assessment and management of older people with venous leg ulcers
Intended for healthcare professionals
CPD    

Assessment and management of older people with venous leg ulcers

Marie Todd Lymphoedema clinical nurse specialist, Specialist Lymphoedema Clinic, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, Scotland

A venous leg ulcer (VLU) is defined as the loss of skin below the knee on the leg or foot in the presence of venous disease, which takes more than two weeks to heal. The prevalence of VLUs is increasing, especially in older people, which will increase the demand for nursing care. Development of a lower leg ulcer should trigger immediate assessment of risk factors for chronic venous disease followed by action to identify the cause and initiate treatment, which should prevent progression to more complex and chronic problems. Justification for choice of appropriate wound management and application of compression therapy should be based on the assessment and diagnosis. Management of patients with VLUs can be cyclical and lifelong, which highlights the importance of helping patients to understand the rationale for management strategies so that cooperation in self-care is achieved.

Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2018.e1004

Citation

Todd M (2018) Assessment and management of older people with venous leg ulcers. Nursing Older People. doi: 10.7748/nop.2018.e1004

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

Marie.Todd@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Published online: 19 June 2018

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more