Selected Podcast
Wound Healing Essentials
Some patients have difficulty getting their wounds to heal but with the latest advances, St. John's Riverside Hospital offers a comprehensive program dedicated to helping adults with slow or non-healing wounds. Registered nurse and assistant director Tara Armerino discusses the St. John's Riverside Wound Healing Center, patients that would benefit from the center, treatment plans, and more.
Featured Speaker:
Tara Armerino, RN
Tara Armerino, RN has been working for St. John’s Riverside Hospital for the past 32 years. She came to St. John’s as a newly certified Nursing Assistant in 1990. While working in the capacity as a Nursing Assistant during the day, she decided to go back to school and become a Registered Nurse and attend the evening classes at the Cochran School of Nursing. Tara graduated in 1999, then went on to take the state boards and immediately took a position as a medical/surgical nurse at St. John’s and worked in that capacity for 12 years. She became the Nurse Manager of the Wound Healing Center in 2011. Tara is certified in wound care and has expanded the services at the Wound Healing Center in order to meet the growing needs of the community. She is very proud of the accomplishments, the quality and patient focus care offered at the Wound Healing Center of St. John’s Riverside Hospital. Transcription:
Cheryl Martin: Some patients have difficulty getting their wounds to heal. But with the latest advances, St. John's Riverside Hospital offers a comprehensive program dedicated to helping adults with slow or non-healing wounds.
This is Riverside Radio HealthCast, the podcast from St. John's Riverside Hospital. I'm Cheryl Martin. And with me is registered nurse, Tara Armerino, the assistant director of the Wound Healing Center here at St. John's Riverside. Tara, which patients are excellent candidates for what the wound healing center offers?
Tara Armerino: So at the wound care center here, patients that would benefit from our specialized care, as you had said before, are any patients that have difficulty with healing any wounds between two and six weeks. And our wound healing center also specializes in diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, surgical wounds, burns, traumatic wounds and any other chronic non-healing wounds.
Cheryl Martin: Tell us about the specialized team that's available when someone decides to be a part of the wound healing center.
Tara Armerino: Sure. At the wound healing center, we have a wonderful multidisciplinary team. It consists of our physicians that include vascular, plastic and podiatric surgeons. Along with our physicians at the wound care center, we have certified registered nurses, which brings together our expertise and our skill sets.
Cheryl Martin: What would a comprehensive treatment plan look like for a potential patient?
Tara Armerino: A comprehensive treatment plan at the center here, we utilize the latest in any of our clinical treatments, along with traditional clinical practices. However, at the wound care center at St. John's, we pride ourselves in individual treatment plan and that may include wound dressings, bioengineered skin grafting, compression therapies, along with debridement, edema management and noninvasive vascular assessments along with negative pressure wound therapy.
Cheryl Martin: Now, you also have a state-of-the-art treatment for patients who have not responded to other treatments, HBOT. So explain what it is, how it works and the benefits.
Tara Armerino: Sure. At St. John's Hospital, we have a hyperbaric oxygen here and we have four chambers that are up and running that we currently use. So hyperbaric allows patient to breathe 100% oxygen, two to three times greater than the atmospheric pressure. And this is administered on a daily basis in one of our four beautiful chambers that we have. The result is more oxygen into the tissue and hyperbaric encourages the formation of new blood vessels. As the new blood vessels develop, the red blood cells start to flow, delivering even more oxygen to the affected area. And this creates the optimal environment for the body's natural healing process to damaged tissue.
Cheryl Martin: Which patients would be great candidates for HBOT?
Tara Armerino: So the patients that would be great candidates for hyperbaric oxygen would be patients that have diabetic foot wounds, soft tissue radionecrosis, patients who have had compromised or failed flaps or grafts, chronic refractory osteomylitis, acute peripheral arterial insufficiency, crush injuries and acute traumatic peripheral ischemia.
Cheryl Martin: Now, Tara, you mentioned diabetes and patients with diabetes. Talk about your diabetic nutritional referral system.
Tara Armerino: Yes. At the wound healing center, majority of our patients with non-healing wounds are diabetics. And what we have done is we have incorporated a diabetic nutritional referral for our patients. This is better to educate and to help our diabetic clients to have a better healthy eating plan. And this also helps to control their blood sugar, their weight, and hope to prevent any type of heart disease.
Cheryl Martin: Great. Now, you mentioned briefly about vascular patients as well. You also have a more detailed program for vascular and venous patients as well. You want to discuss in more detail about that and what it does?
Tara Armerino: Sure. At the wound healing center, we have an onsite vascular diagnostic testing, which is noninvasive. This testing enables our physicians to diagnose and identify vascular and venous disease, which enables again the physician to make a treatment plan for the patients and possibly some type of surgical intervention if needed.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, where is the wound healing center located and when is it open?
Tara Armerino: So the wound healing center is inside of St. John's Riverside Hospital in the Andrus Pavilion. We are located on the fifth floor and we're on five west. Our hours of operation are from Monday through Friday, from 8:00 to 4:00 PM. And at the wound healing center, we have large exam rooms, which can accommodate patients that may use wheelchairs or stretchers as a mode of transportation.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, you've worked at St. John's Riverside for more than 30 years. What attracted you to devote your expertise for so many of the past few years to the wound healing center?
Tara Armerino: I just really believe in this wholeheartedly, I believe in the center, I believe in the nurses, I believe in the treatments that we do. I had been a nurse on medical surgical units. And there, I had patients that had wounds from trauma, non-healing diabetic wounds and even surgical wounds. It was so gratifying to see patients that had these wounds and we healed them, so that they could get back to their lives and to their families. That's why I went to the wound care center, because I believe that the community that we service here can all benefit from all of our expertise and our skills here.
Cheryl Martin: That's great. Is there anything else you wanted to add just about the wound healing center?
Tara Armerino: Yes. I believe wholeheartedly that the wound care center at St. John's, the physicians and the nurses. We give the best care, the best treatments and the best outcome to our community.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, thanks so much for introducing us to the wound healing center and its array of services. Tara Armerino is the assistant director of the wound healing center. For more information about wound healing, please call 914-964-4630, that's 914-964-4630, or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., that's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it with others and check out other episodes of Riverside Radio HealthCast, the podcast from St. John's Riverside Hospital.
Cheryl Martin: Some patients have difficulty getting their wounds to heal. But with the latest advances, St. John's Riverside Hospital offers a comprehensive program dedicated to helping adults with slow or non-healing wounds.
This is Riverside Radio HealthCast, the podcast from St. John's Riverside Hospital. I'm Cheryl Martin. And with me is registered nurse, Tara Armerino, the assistant director of the Wound Healing Center here at St. John's Riverside. Tara, which patients are excellent candidates for what the wound healing center offers?
Tara Armerino: So at the wound care center here, patients that would benefit from our specialized care, as you had said before, are any patients that have difficulty with healing any wounds between two and six weeks. And our wound healing center also specializes in diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, surgical wounds, burns, traumatic wounds and any other chronic non-healing wounds.
Cheryl Martin: Tell us about the specialized team that's available when someone decides to be a part of the wound healing center.
Tara Armerino: Sure. At the wound healing center, we have a wonderful multidisciplinary team. It consists of our physicians that include vascular, plastic and podiatric surgeons. Along with our physicians at the wound care center, we have certified registered nurses, which brings together our expertise and our skill sets.
Cheryl Martin: What would a comprehensive treatment plan look like for a potential patient?
Tara Armerino: A comprehensive treatment plan at the center here, we utilize the latest in any of our clinical treatments, along with traditional clinical practices. However, at the wound care center at St. John's, we pride ourselves in individual treatment plan and that may include wound dressings, bioengineered skin grafting, compression therapies, along with debridement, edema management and noninvasive vascular assessments along with negative pressure wound therapy.
Cheryl Martin: Now, you also have a state-of-the-art treatment for patients who have not responded to other treatments, HBOT. So explain what it is, how it works and the benefits.
Tara Armerino: Sure. At St. John's Hospital, we have a hyperbaric oxygen here and we have four chambers that are up and running that we currently use. So hyperbaric allows patient to breathe 100% oxygen, two to three times greater than the atmospheric pressure. And this is administered on a daily basis in one of our four beautiful chambers that we have. The result is more oxygen into the tissue and hyperbaric encourages the formation of new blood vessels. As the new blood vessels develop, the red blood cells start to flow, delivering even more oxygen to the affected area. And this creates the optimal environment for the body's natural healing process to damaged tissue.
Cheryl Martin: Which patients would be great candidates for HBOT?
Tara Armerino: So the patients that would be great candidates for hyperbaric oxygen would be patients that have diabetic foot wounds, soft tissue radionecrosis, patients who have had compromised or failed flaps or grafts, chronic refractory osteomylitis, acute peripheral arterial insufficiency, crush injuries and acute traumatic peripheral ischemia.
Cheryl Martin: Now, Tara, you mentioned diabetes and patients with diabetes. Talk about your diabetic nutritional referral system.
Tara Armerino: Yes. At the wound healing center, majority of our patients with non-healing wounds are diabetics. And what we have done is we have incorporated a diabetic nutritional referral for our patients. This is better to educate and to help our diabetic clients to have a better healthy eating plan. And this also helps to control their blood sugar, their weight, and hope to prevent any type of heart disease.
Cheryl Martin: Great. Now, you mentioned briefly about vascular patients as well. You also have a more detailed program for vascular and venous patients as well. You want to discuss in more detail about that and what it does?
Tara Armerino: Sure. At the wound healing center, we have an onsite vascular diagnostic testing, which is noninvasive. This testing enables our physicians to diagnose and identify vascular and venous disease, which enables again the physician to make a treatment plan for the patients and possibly some type of surgical intervention if needed.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, where is the wound healing center located and when is it open?
Tara Armerino: So the wound healing center is inside of St. John's Riverside Hospital in the Andrus Pavilion. We are located on the fifth floor and we're on five west. Our hours of operation are from Monday through Friday, from 8:00 to 4:00 PM. And at the wound healing center, we have large exam rooms, which can accommodate patients that may use wheelchairs or stretchers as a mode of transportation.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, you've worked at St. John's Riverside for more than 30 years. What attracted you to devote your expertise for so many of the past few years to the wound healing center?
Tara Armerino: I just really believe in this wholeheartedly, I believe in the center, I believe in the nurses, I believe in the treatments that we do. I had been a nurse on medical surgical units. And there, I had patients that had wounds from trauma, non-healing diabetic wounds and even surgical wounds. It was so gratifying to see patients that had these wounds and we healed them, so that they could get back to their lives and to their families. That's why I went to the wound care center, because I believe that the community that we service here can all benefit from all of our expertise and our skills here.
Cheryl Martin: That's great. Is there anything else you wanted to add just about the wound healing center?
Tara Armerino: Yes. I believe wholeheartedly that the wound care center at St. John's, the physicians and the nurses. We give the best care, the best treatments and the best outcome to our community.
Cheryl Martin: Tara, thanks so much for introducing us to the wound healing center and its array of services. Tara Armerino is the assistant director of the wound healing center. For more information about wound healing, please call 914-964-4630, that's 914-964-4630, or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., that's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it with others and check out other episodes of Riverside Radio HealthCast, the podcast from St. John's Riverside Hospital.