142 - Ulceration of the Lower Legs

Course Overview

The aim for this course is to provide the primary health care nurse involved in the care and management of leg ulcers with the information and knowledge to understand, assess, and provide a practical approach to the management of lower leg ulcers.

It has been estimated that approximately one per cent of the population will suffer a leg ulcer at some stage in their life, many of whom will never get the chance to be successfully treated. This can be due to their lack of understanding of the extent of the problem, as well as the unavailability of proper attention and care. Unfortunately, those with leg ulcers get into a routine of recurrent dressings and bandages - this temporarily heals the ulcer which then breaks down again and again and again. As about 500,000 people in the UK have recurrent leg ulcers, leg ulcer clinics have been set up and specialist nurses have been employed to perform these roles with successful results.

For that reason, interested nurses with suitable clinical knowledge, informed assessment techniques, and familiarity in contemporary treatment methods can make a difference in the management of such a challenging and debilitating problem.

Estimated Duration

1 hour / 1 CPD hour

About the Author

The module has been developed by the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association.

Learning Outcomes

The course material will list and describe knowledge and skills in the following key elements:

• Historical overview
• Anatomical overview
• Physiological overview
• Hints on assessment
• Guide for diagnosis
• Methods for treatment, and
• Range of exercises, case studies, and images.

Target Audience

Suitable for nurses working in primary health care including general practice.

What you’ll get

At the completion of each module you will be presented with a brief online assessment that will test your underpinning knowledge.

To fully complete the course and claim your CPD hours, you will also need to complete the corresponding survey at the end. It only takes a few minutes to complete.

Once you have completed all sections of the course, a certificate will be available next to the course name in the ‘My Training’ section of APNA Online Learning