Connected wound care: partnerships informing wound management

It has been acknowledged that regional and rural areas may have limited access to expert wound management education and expertise. Historically in community nursing across Victoria no formal pathways existed for regional and metropolitan services to collaborate. Efforts to develop wound education were occurring in isolation and potentially being duplicated. The Connected Wound Care project, an initiative funded by the Department of Health, Victoria, initiated meaningful collaboration between Regional Wounds Victoria and the Royal District Nursing Service. This enabled gaps in wound management practice in the community setting to be identified and addressed. Initially a suite of health care guides and a diabetes foot kit, addressing aspects of wound prevention and management, was developed. More recently, focus on interpreting aspects of the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prevention and Management of Venous Leg Ulcers into practice, led to the development of an e-learning package. All of these resources were distributed to over 270 agencies across Victoria. This paper will show that effective, collaborative relationships can be established between traditional 'silo' agencies. Shared insight into wound management across a state environment can occur and outcomes which positively impact the individuals we care for are achievable together.