THE Saipan Diabetes Prevention and Control Program says in a media release that it recently sent three staff members of the Commonwealth Health Center’s physical therapy department to Tinian to present a course to the nursing and medical staff there.
The lead instructor was Dana McFadden and her assistants were Nicole LeBlanc and Pam Carhill.
The two-day course consisted of one full day of lectures and one day of practical exercises and hands-on training with patients.
Topics covered included proper wound assessment, wound care, prevention of wounds and amputations, and a guide for a diabetic foot clinic start-up.
The goal of this “train the trainer” program is to increase the knowledge base and skill level of health care practitioners in the CNMI to ensure high quality patient care throughout the commonwealth.
This will reduce the number of unnecessary referrals to Saipan, as well as assist staff in recognizing when patients require referral and thus prevent unnecessary amputations.
The response of the Tinian staff was excellent.
The nurses were very eager to participate in the course and were highly motivated to increase the quality of patient care.
The physical therapy staff felt that this was an extremely fruitful venture and that similar programs in the future would be of great benefit.
The vision of the physical therapy department at CHC is to have a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team of health care providers in the CNMI that can effectively assess and treat various types of wounds.
Formal training and ongoing continuing education is essential to realize this goal.
According to physical therapist Dana McFadden, the three most important factors in amputation prevention are: 1) Adequate blood sugar control (< 120mg/dL); 2) Skilled wound care by trained health care professionals; and 3) Daily diabetic foot care and self-inspection by patient care.