Congruence between Injection Drug User Clients’ and Providers’ Perspective of Wound Care

Abstract

Nursing is a discipline that is committed to assisting patients develop self-help skills. One of the groups that need more involvement with their own care is injection drug users (IDU). The purpose of this study is to learn the similarities and differences of what IDU clients indicate they can do to take care of their wounds, and what are the nurse providers’ estimations of how well the IDU clients can take care of their wounds. Ten IDU clients and 1 wound care nurse practitioner participated over a 4 week period from July to August of 2018. A mixed method design was utilized. Semi-structured client interviews were performed. The wound care nurse practitioner completed a quantitative survey on each patient’s ability to take care of their wounds. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used. Two client themes were evolved: basic management of wounds and physiological needs. 100% of the clients were willing to learn, they believed with more teaching they can do more to take care of their wounds. The provider believes only 20% of the clients in this sample can actually be educated to care for their wounds. While wound care providers and IDU clients may not have the same understanding of client independence abilities, further involving the patient with their care may assist the patient contribute to taking care of their wounds and further development to their own self-help skills. Key words: Nursing perspective, Injection drug user (IDU), Wound care, Homeless, Nurse, therapeutic relationship