Nora has been a practicing occupational therapist since 1998 and a certified hand therapist since 2006. She spent her early career as an inpatient therapist at rehabilitation centers, acute care hospitals and burn units in Boston, MA and Washington, DC before focusing on outpatient hands in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Bend, OR. Nora moved to Charlottesville, VA in 2021 and joined the Hand Therapy Team at the University of Virginia Physicians Group where she works in the Hand Center and in an outpatient hand therapy practice. She received her Wound Care Certification in 2020 and is an active member of the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT) and the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS). She lectures routinely in wound care, burn therapy, trauma and peripheral nerve injury for ASHT, AAHS and various universities across the country.
Nora Barrett, MS, OTR/L, CHT, WCC joins us to talk about wound care in hand and upper extremity therapy and her recent journey to obtain her certification in wound care. She gives us the most up-to-date information on assessing and treating wounds, and also shares some clinical pearls of what to do, what not to do and how we as hand therapists can advocate for our patients and their wounds.
Wound Care References:
Baranoski S, Ayello E. Wound Care Essentials: Practice Principles. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2015.
Broussard KC, Powers, et al. Wound dressings: selecting the most appropriate type. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 2013; 14(6):449-459.
Eming S. Biology of Wound Healing. In: Bolognia JL, Schaffer JV, Cerroni L. Dermatology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:2413-2424.e1.
Lammers RL, Aldy KN. Principles of Wound Management. In: Roberts JR, Custalow CB.
Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:621-654.
Leaper DJ, Schultz G, Carville K, Fletcher J, Swanson T, Drake R. Extending the TIME concept: what have we learned in the past 10 years? International Wound Journal. 2014; 9 (Suppl.2):1-19.
McVeigh K, Herman M, Barrett N. Physiology of Wound Healing and Burns. In: Test Prep for the CHT Exam. 4th ed. American Society of Hand Therapists; 2021.
Myers BA. Wound Management: Principles and Practices. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2020.
Newell KA. Wound Closure. In: Dehn R, Asprey D. Essential Clinical Procedures. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:325-348.
Norman G, Dumville JC, Mohapatra DP, Owens GL, Crosbie EJ. Antibiotics and antiseptics for surgical wound healing by secondary intention (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016; 3. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011712.pub.2.
Parrish KP, Barrett NE. Wound classification and management. In: Skirven TM, Osterman LA,
Fedorczyk JM, Amadio PC, Feldscher SB, Shin EK. Rehabilitation of the Hand and Upper Extremity. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:196-209.
Sen CK, Roy S, Gordillo G. Wound Healing. In: Gurtner GC, Neligan PC. Plastic Surgery: Volume 1: Principles. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:165-195.e7.
