Page 49 - RPA May 2020

HEALTH WOUND CARE 47
Help with drug side effects
Pharmacists are also required to play a role in the prevention of negative drug interactions and allergies from topical and systemic medications, says Mr Bain.
“Some drugs are not necessarily related to wounds and can make wound repair difficult, such as anticoagulants,” he said. “And chemotherapeutic drugs can impact on the healing of a wound.
“Some drugs also make it easier for a person to sustain a wound, such
as drugs for Parkinson’s, which make people dizzy and prone to falling over.
“Another important issue is how drugs can affect diet, ie if a patient is nauseous, they will not eat well and therefore will lose weight, resulting in decreased strength, which affects wound repair. Alternatively, reduced strength could make it easier for a person to sustain a wound.”
Mr Bain points out that a wound could make diabetes harder to balance and correct, and that diabetics could have a more challenging time when it comes to healing their wounds.
He says that, as an example, if a wound forms on a diabetic’s foot as a result of pressure, they should be
referred to a GP, nurse or podiatrist. “All this makes it clear that the
pharmacist and pharmacy assistant play a critical role in wound care and accurate referral for higher level care,” Mr Bain said.
The interprofessional team
Pharmacists and pharmacy
assistants play as much a role in the interprofessional wound care team as the likes of GPs, dietitians, podiatrists and nurses, says Mr Bain.
“An amazing array of healthcare professionals could be connected to wound care, considering the whole body influences the wound,” he said.
“It’s inevitable that skin will be affected in some way by medication taken by a patient, so a pharmacist should be aware of side effects that could impact the skin, such as the perfusion of tissues.”
He says the Ausmed Education and Australian College of Nursing programs dedicate two hours to the interplay between chemotherapeutic agents, dressings and wound repair.
Staying abreast of trends
With constant new developments and breakthroughs in wound care, it is
imperative pharmacists and pharmacy assistants remain aware of them,
says Mr Bain.
“This could entail becoming a member of Wounds Australia and subscribing to journals such as Wounds International, Journal of Wound
Care, Wound Practice and Research and others, some of which have pharmacists as contributors,” he said.
He adds that two-day wound care education programs, such as those run by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, teach pharmacists how to best care for wounds in different scenarios.
These programs teach tissue physiology, patient and wound assessment, wound intervention planning, and wound dressings, and discuss many common wound entities (pathologies) and their management.
“Ausmed Education and
the Australian College
of Nursing also have
holistic and patient-centred
programs designed
by pharmacists and
their assistants.”
RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • MAR 2020