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WOUND CARE
with only 16 complete responses, missing data and “don’t know” responses in the survey
introduces a certain level of bias and challenge the generalizability of this study.
As explained in Chapter Four regarding minimal reporting bias, these limitations in
Phase II of the study were counteracted with the strengths of Phase III and Phase IV, such as
selecting respondents from four different major provinces for the semi-structured telephone
interview followed by the expert consults with an inter-professional team in the consensus-
building process. Additionally, the characteristics of the pan Canadian study nurse participants
from the environmental scan survey (Phase II) reflected diversity in role or position, academic
background, province and years of experience in radiation oncology. The telephone interview
nurse participants (Phase III) had different professional roles; while the experts in Phase IV were
an inter-professional group of Registered Nurses, Radiation Oncologist and Radiation Therapist.
Follow up with participants who provided their contact information via email and telephone
helped to confirm findings. Phase III nurse participants pointed out how individual patient
perspectives were considered in wound management, however this would need to be validated by
actual patients in future research.
Conclusion
In this chapter, the evolving role of the RTN is examined and analyzed in context of
wound management during radiotherapy. The intricacies of integration and patient-centered
care are explained in view of complexities involved in clinical decision-making and inter-
professional practice in the clinical setting. Current wound care practices are summarized and it
is suggested that future research be undertaken to evaluate the effects of radiating through
dressings and develop Clinical Practice Guidelines. As has been explained in this chapter, the
Person-Centred Nursing Framework is a practical instrument that illuminates the path to ‘best
