Purpose: To use a negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) device with a silver impregnated foam dressing to assist in the treatment of Calciphylaxis versus the standard treatment of silver sulfadiazide to increase patient and staff satisfaction, reduce nursing time, reduce supply cost, increase wound healing time.

Objective: To provide the WOCN community an alternative to the standard treatment of Calciphylaxis wounds with the use of NPWT device and a silver impregnated foam dressing to assist in wound healing, increase patient and staff satisfaction, as well as reduce the overall cost of supplies and nursing time. The standard treatment of silver sulfadiazide is both time and labor intensive for staff. It promotes anxiety and therefore decreases patient satisfaction. The supplies used within the standard treatment also can be cost burdening to both a facility and the patient if not supplied to them. The use of the standard wound healing treatment may also lengthen the time towards healing.

Outcomes: The use of NPWT device with the silver impregnated foam dressing has greatly assisted in the wound progression of a patient with Calciphylaxis. The reduction in nursing time, and supply cost versus the standard treatment and the use of NPWT device with the silver impregnated foam dressing were significant. Patient and staff satisfaction also increased.

Conclusion: The alternative method increased wound healing, reduced nursing time and supply cost, as well as increased both staff and patient satisfaction. In the future, patients at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center with Calciphylaxis will be evaluated for treatment and care utilizing the NPWT device with silver impregnated foam dressing. This process improvement and innovation was driven and implemented by the Manager of the Johns Hopkins Burn Center who is also a WOCN.