Expert: Jacqueline Jacques, ND - 11/4/2010

Question
Hello, I am a wound nurse (RN-uncertified) in a wound clinic in Western Nebraska.  The hospital I work in performs various bariatric surgeries, 125+ this year.  I have agreed to give a talk at one of the support groups related to skin integrity issues.  My focus is not on excess skin, rather it will be focused on Skin Care.  Do you have any information I could share with these patients?  The target population for this talk with be patients that have had surgery and patients preparing for the surgery as well.  Any information I can share with them will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance for your time.  Rachelle NoeRN

Answer
Hi Rachelle,

Unfortunately, this is really not my area of expertise either.  My best thought is to contact the National Association of Bariatric Nurses and see who they might point you to.  I know that over the years as I have attended their conferences they have has many speakers on topics such as infections in skin folds, hygiene, etc - so they might be able to point you in the right direction.  You could also search for articles on this topic in their journal.

nabn@bariatricnurses.org

I probably do have some information about skin and nutrition - but it's more focused on skin symptoms related to nutritional deficiency and skin/wound healing as it relates to plastic surgery.  Not sure any of that would be useful?

Best of luck!

In Health,

Dr. Jacques