{"id":145819,"date":"2025-06-26T11:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T16:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=145819"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:00:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:00:53","slug":"uwm-alum-brings-wound-care-expertise-to-patients-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-alum-brings-wound-care-expertise-to-patients-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"51ÁÔÆæ alum brings wound care expertise to patients in need"},"content":{"rendered":"

After war broke out in the Gaza Strip in 2023, Laura Swoboda watched from the other side of the globe as humanitarian conditions deteriorated. As a nurse practitioner, Swoboda was tapped into a global network of medical professionals, many of whom shared urgent calls for volunteers to travel to the conflict zone and provide medical care to Gazans in need.<\/p>\n

Swoboda, who uses they\/them pronouns, is no stranger to going abroad on medical missions. They also specialize in wound care \u2013 an especially relevant skill for treating patients in war zones. So, when an opportunity arose to volunteer with surgical nonprofit FAJR Scientific,<\/a> they jumped at the chance. In 2024, Swoboda traveled to Gaza European Hospital and worked alongside an international team of surgeons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the only nurse practitioner and wound care specialist (on the team),\u201d said Swoboda, who graduated with a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) from 51ÁÔÆæ<\/a> in 2018. For three weeks, they did what they could to treat Gazans\u2019 devastating injuries and psychological trauma in an environment Swoboda calls \u201cchaos.\u201d Teams had limited supplies and worked in dire conditions, even sleeping in the hospital after their safe house was threatened by nearby bombings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main job was just to help people and let them know that there were people abroad that still cared,\u201d Swoboda said.<\/p>\n

Swoboda\u2019s trip to Gaza was guided by their conviction that health care is a fundamental human right. \u201cI\u2019m a humanitarian,\u201d Swoboda said. \u201cI don’t see national borders, socioeconomic status, sex, religion \u2014 those things shouldn\u2019t impact your ability to be healthy.\u201d To Swoboda, healing individual patients is as important as addressing the political and socioeconomic barriers to health.<\/p>\n

A holistic approach to care<\/h2>\n

Swoboda\u2019s journey to wound care expert and equity advocate started a decade ago while working as a home care nurse in Scottsdale, Arizona, in \u201ca very ritzy area.\u201d But a short drive away, \u201cpeople don\u2019t have doors (and) they have dirt floors \u2014 so (there\u2019s) quite a disparity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Swoboda could find little information about how to create lasting wound healing. \u201cWounds are (often) a symptom of a disease,\u201d Swoboda said. For example, conditions like diabetes and peripheral artery disease can cause recurring lesions. These chronic illnesses, and their resulting wounds, can worsen with lack of access to proper treatments \u2014 a barrier that primarily affects low-income patients.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Swoboda\u2019s interest in health equity and wound care intersect. As a certified wound, ostomy and continence nurse, they\u2019re as interested in cutting-edge wound treatments as they are breaking down barriers to health care access.<\/p>\n

Advocating for change<\/h2>\n

Today, Swoboda is focused on developing treatments that involve regenerative medicine, which boosts the body\u2019s natural ability to heal by re-creating or repairing tissue. This field encompasses a variety of techniques like stem cell therapies, skin transplants and tissue engineering. But Swoboda also makes note of the social issues their patients face and uses that information to advocate for better health care policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I’m going and bothering my congressperson about something, I see that as part of my professional work, too,\u201d Swoboda says. Seeing the effects of bad policy leads them to show support for safer environmental conditions and better health care access. For example, Swoboda recalls that while living in Shorewood, Wisconsin, they were a vocal advocate for removing lead pipes from the city\u2019s water system. \u201cIf you’re able to advocate in any way, you feel less despair just doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

51ÁÔÆæ alum Dr. Laura Swoboda traveled to Gaza to provide medical care. Stateside, they research regenerative medicine and wound care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15092,"featured_media":145831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[361],"tags":[],"section":[],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[362],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-145819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-waves-stories","related-coverage-make-new-waves"],"yoast_head":"\nNurse practitioner from 51ÁÔÆæ treats war injuries in Gaza<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nurse practitioner Laura Swoboda used their wound care expertise to treat patients in Gaza. 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