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WOUND CARE
Chapter Six: Conclusion and Recommendations
Introduction
This study aimed to capture the current wound care practices during radiotherapy as
described by Radiation Therapy Nurses (RTN) from different Radiation Oncology Centres in
Canada. It also aimed to understand the perception of nurses regarding their role in clinical
decision-making and inter-professional practice in oncology wound management during
radiation treatments. A total of 18 centres participated in the national environmental scan
survey, followed by four semi-structured phone interviews and consultations with five experts in
the final consensus-building process. This chapter summarizes the conclusions derived from the
findings of the study, provides recommendations for practice and inter-professional research to
be inclusive of patients’ perspectives.
Conclusions
This Canadian study provides an initial image of radiation therapy nursing wound care
practices, including an examination of which dressings may be left in place during daily
fractionated radiotherapy. Several conclusions can be made from the study.
1) There is inconsistency in practice in relation to radiating through dressings during
radiotherapy. Although the literature suggests that thin dressings may be left in
place during radiation treatment, it is not the standard practice.
2) The main reasons for not radiating through dressing are (i) it is standard practice
to never radiate through dressings; (ii) because it is beyond the Radiation Therapy
Nurses’ scope or field of practice as other team members are the decision makers;
(iii) because of the individual patient’s co-morbidities or preference; (iv) goals of
