Combating Chronic Wounds: A Multi-disciplinary approach to Wound Care

Title: Combating Chronic Wounds: A Multi-disciplinary approach to Wound Care

Presenter: Meghan Guthrie, MPT/CWS, Director of Patient Care, Sunshine Home Health

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Description: We will dive into the most common chronic/non-healing wounds that are encountered in the home care setting (diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, and stasis ulcers). We will examine the etiology of these wounds and the common barriers to healing that we run into. We will discuss how to utilize multiple disciplines that are available in the home health setting to assist in treating the whole patient, instead of just focusing on treating the hole in the patient.

Objectives:

1. The clinician will have a clear understanding of the etiology of pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, and diabetic ulcers.

2. The clinician will have a identify common barriers to healing of each of these wounds.

3. The clinician will identify treatment strategies of pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers and diabetic ulcers.

4. The clinician will have a clear understanding of how to use a multi-disciplinary approach in developing their plan of care to address these wounds.

Bio:

Meghan Guthrie, MPT/CWS, Director of Patient Care, Sunshine Home Health

Meghan is currently a director of patient care at Sunshine Home Health in Spokane, WA. She manages a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians.  She came into this new roll at Sunshine with over 20 years of field experience.  As a field clinician she managed patients with complex and chronic wounds.  Multiple nurses in several branches of her home health care company referred their non-healing and complex patients.   She is certified in conservative sharp debridement. Her expertise comes in her focus on the barriers that need to be overcome to heal the wound, which goes beyond dressing selection.  This approach pushes the patient to be more involved in their own care and healing.  It also involves a multidisciplinary approach to wound healing.  In addition to working with patients, Meghan also was responsible for teaching and mentoring new and existing nurses both in the field and in the classroom.  She also is an adjunct instructor at Spokane Falls Community College PTA school.

Meghan graduated from Eastern Washington University in Winter of 1998 with her master’s in physical therapy.  Her passion for wound care started while working at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Washington, where there was an out-patient wound care clinic that was managed by the physical therapy department.  This hospital provided wound care to acute-care patients, TCU patients and in the outpatient clinic.   Conscious sedation was offered for more painful debridement procedures such as burns.  She received her diplomate as a CWS from the American Board of Wound management in 2009 and again in 2019.

Meghan’s experience both as a field clinician and a manager of home health clinicians, gives her an understanding of both the barriers in the patient’s home and the financial and staffing barriers that faces home health agencies.