Archive for the ‘Skin & Wound Management’ Category

3 Types of Wound Closure and What They Mean

Wednesday, March 8th, 2023

As a wound care clinician, you know the wound healing process has many moving parts, including types of wound closures.

In wound care, the goal should be to heal the wound as soon as possible and to keep it healed. And with wound healing, there are three types of wound closure techniques to consider to achieve this — primary intention, secondary intention, and tertiary intention.

The selection of wound closure type depends on how the wound is presented. Noting physical characteristics like exudate color or wound size can help you identify the correct course of treatment and the most appropriate type to use.

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Burn Wound Care

Thursday, February 9th, 2023

Our skin is the largest organ of our body. It is our protection from injury and harmful substances. It prevents moisture loss, regulates our internal temperature, shields us from germs, protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, and allows us to feel sensations such as touch.

Burns are common trauma wounds that disrupt skin’s protective function. The consequences of that disruption range from minor to fatal. A burn may be caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, and radiation. Providing proper burn wound care as soon as possible will benefit treatment.

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Exudate: What the Type and Quantities Tell You

Thursday, January 26th, 2023

For successful wound treatment and healing, it’s vital to understand the different types of exudate and how much is present.

Ooze. Pus. Secretion. The drainage that seeps out of wounds can go by many names, but as wound care clinicians, you know the technical term is exudate. This liquid is produced by the body in response to tissue damage and tells you all you need to know about the wound.

Dianna Dashner, DNP, FNP-C, WCC, CLNC, LLE, Senior Nurse Practitioner at ProMedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation said it’s important to know the type and amount of exudate because this will direct the type of treatment.

“For example, the use of a calcium alginate necessitates moderate to heavy exudate,” she said. “If the wound has purulent drainage, you will want to thoroughly cleanse the wound to remove all the exudate and then culture the wound.” She added that if an infection is suspected and there is moderate to heavy drainage, a calcium alginate with silver may be a good choice for treatment. Her example highlights the significance that the amount and type of exudate makes in wound treatment.

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Wound Debridement

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

According to the National Library of Medicine, wound debridement, or the removal of nonviable tissue, biofilm, and bioburden from the wound bed, is an essential part of standard wound treatment.

Bioburden consists of microorganisms on the surface of the wound bed, while biofilm is a substance created by the presence of bacteria, microbes, and cellular debris. The removal of these tissues optimizes the wound bed for ongoing granulation of healthy tissue and promotes epithelialization.

Tissues like these act as barriers to wound healing, and chronic wounds will be unable to heal if these tissues are present — making debridement an essential part of the healing process.

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Understanding the Foundation of Wound Care Treatments

Friday, November 4th, 2022

A healthy wound environment is essential for healing. The type of wound care treatment chosen can have either a positive or a negative effect on this process. Starting with the basics and adding on treatments as needed can make a big difference.

Treatment choices are based on the etiology of the wound, wound environment, and the patient’s underlying medical conditions. We’ll begin with the basics of wound care and then look at additional treatments and adjunct therapies.

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Wound Care Basics: Types of Wounds

Friday, October 28th, 2022

Wound care professionals need a baseline knowledge of the different types of wounds they encounter. Correctly diagnosing and treating the wound as well as any underlying causes, will give you and the patients you care for the best chance of success.

Types of wounds are classified as either acute or chronic. Let’s first look at acute wounds, which tend to move along the healing continuum normally and usually heal within six-eight weeks.

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Managing Pressure Injuries: 6 Key Considerations

Wednesday, October 19th, 2022

Wound care is an exciting specialty that requires continuous learning.

With various wound types and multiple wound care products and treatments available, clinicians strive to stay up to date on evidence-based practices to ensure they are providing patients with current standards of care.

Managing pressure injuries is one area of wound care that many wound care professionals encounter regularly, as they are pervasive across the healthcare continuum.

Whether you work in home health, acute care, or long-term care, you should be aware of some key concepts when managing pressure injuries, as explained by Don Wollheim, MD, FAPWCA, WCC, DWC.

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Wound Care Nurse Duties

Friday, September 30th, 2022

Patients with a diverse range of health conditions rely on wound care nurses to manage their treatment and keep them safe from infection. But what exactly do wound care nurse duties include?

Wound care nurses perform a wide variety of critical services, from assessing diabetic foot conditions and mitigating infections to developing treatment plans and caring for pressure injuries.

The importance of wound care in nursing relates to the ability to reduce a patient’s pain and promote healing as quickly and completely as possible. To become a certified wound care nurse, you will need to enroll in specialized wound care courses. These courses provide nurses with the wound care information they need to remain current with evolving care standards, enhance their knowledge of skin and wound management, and stay legally defensible at bedside.

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What Happened to Practicing Wound Care Basics?

Friday, September 23rd, 2022

Having been involved in wound care for about 25 years, I have seen many changes in our understanding of wound healing, research evidence, and technology, often straying from wound care basics.  

As I hear my students describe common practices today and the many myths of wound care, I’m led to wonder, “What happened to starting with wound care basics for healing?”

A colleague of mine once stated there are basically two fundamentals to healing wounds: a healthy patient and a healthy wound environment. Once those are accomplished, topical treatments will not make that big of a difference.

However, clinicians often cling to some “holy grail” treatment in the form of a dressing or adjunctive modality that will somehow overcome the need to practice solid, evidence-based wound care.

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The Pros and Cons of Wound Care Nursing

Friday, July 29th, 2022

Whether they’re just starting out in their career or looking to make a change, today’s nurses have a variety of settings and specialties to choose from. Understanding the pros and cons of wound care nursing can help determine if a particular choice is right for you.

Wound care nursing is a much-needed specialty for nearly every healthcare setting — including acute, long-term care, and home care. And unlike certain specialties, wound care nurses treat several patient populations with varying degrees of complexity and must understand how to manage different types of wounds.

Learning the pros and cons of wound care nursing will also help you understand how this role differs from other specialties you may be considering.

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