Great wound care starts with understanding that the most important thing is providing outstanding patient care. When patient care is made the top priority, the wound care program is set up to thrive. We have all had family members or friends who have received less than great medical care. It is a helpless feeling to watch someone you love not receive the best care.
Christina Le is a strong proponent of wound centers providing great patient care. She started her journey in wound care in 2009 when she accepted a position at Wound Care Advantage’s corporate office. Today she is the Director of Clinical Operations with the company.
“Because we are able able to impact a patient's life by helping them heal we become more than their nurse, we become their family,” she said. “I am most proud to help and empower the patient and their families to understand how they are at the forefront of their health.”
Being a wound care clinician absolutely comes with some challenges.“On a daily basis we are dealing with the barriers that insurance companies have given us, and it has made it more difficult to ensure our patients get the best care possible once they leave our clinic,” Le said.
Le views herself and her team as educators. “We not only are teaching our patients but also their families and caregivers,” she said. “We teach them how to properly clean and dress their wounds. They are often miseducated from a prior facility who took care of their wounds.”
The wound care industry has changed a bit since Le first start working in it. “There are more specialty wound care products available and the restrictions of insurances has changed how we can coordinate care for our patients,” she said. She keeps a close eye on different wound care products and interesting new technology.“At the end of the day, what sets Wound Care Advantage apart from the others is our dedication to putting patient care first,” Le said.
Christina also enjoys writing articles about wound healing and educating patients and caregivers.She recently wrote about effectively offloading for diabetic foot ulcers when patients experience financial trouble in Today’s Wound Clinic. (http://www.todayswoundclinic.com/articles/effectively-offloading-dfus-when-patients-experience-financial-challenges)“I love to share my experiences that I have had in the clinic first hand,” Le said. “There are so many tips and tricks that I want to be able to share with the rest of my wound care family that have helped me.”
She thinks it is important to have mentors in both life and your career.“Mike Comer, CEO of Wound Care Advantage is my mentor in business because he is so passionate about his company and ensures we make patient care number one.,” Le said. “From the clinical side I look at Dr. John Gambol as a mentor because he is constantly teaching me how to be a better wound care nurse.Le urges other medical professional to seriously consider a career in wound care. “Because it’s so different than any other field in healthcare,” she said. “Since the wound care world is small, you can become an expert in this field and become an educator. That's my goal, to take over the wound care world.”
