Wound Care Education Institute Blog

Wound Care Nurse Salary and How Some Skills Can’t Be Monetized

If you’re a nurse with a passion for skin and wound care, you may want to consider expanding your professional marketability by becoming wound care certified.

Average Salary for a Certified Wound Care Nurse

So how much do wound care nurses make? According to some online sources for wound care nurse salary data, the average annual wound care nurse salary ranges from $47,000 to $86,000 and an average annual wound care nurse salary at just over $69,000.

Keep in mind that salaries for wound care nurses can vary greatly from the annual rates, depending on a few other factors, including the state and city you in which you practice, your level of education, the size of the organization, and whether or not you have wound care certification. All of these play a role in your earning potential.

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Explore 3 Types of Wound Closure: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary

You are called in to care for a patient with a full thickness wound. Now what?

Your goal should be to heal the wound as soon as possible and to keep it healed. There are three types of wound closure techniques to consider, and they include:

Primary Intention
Secondary Intention
Tertiary Intention

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Physical Therapists Have a Long History and Bright Future in Wound Care

When some think of wound care providers, they don’t typically think of physical therapists (PTs). But many PTs are actively engaged in wound care and committed to making progress in the field.

So many PTs practice wound management that the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has a component group known as the Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management (ACEWM).

The ACEWM consists of nearly a thousand physical therapists and students interested in electrophysiology, biophysical agents, wound management, and neuromusculoskeletal ultrasonography. Within the ACEWM is another group known as the Wound Management Special Interest Group (WMSIG) whose focus is solely on wound management.

WCEI spoke with Patricia Larkin-Upton, PT, DPT, MS, CWS, CEEAA, vice chair of the ACEWM and WMSIG. Larkin-Upton collaborated with the WMSIG board of directors and the ACEWM president and vice president to provide insight into the history of these wound care organizations and some goals they have for the future.

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Research Study Reveals Nurses’ Importance in Stoma Care

A 2017 qualitative research study reveals some essential legal implications for nurses who provide stoma care.

The study was conducted by nurses and nurse faculty in Spain at two university hospitals and one public hospital in Spain. Twenty-one adult ostomy patients were asked for their insights before and after their ostomy surgery.

Fourteen of the patients had a gastrointestinal stoma due to cancer, six due to inflammatory bowel disease, and one due to familial polyposis. About 48% of the sample had an ileostomy and 52% had a colostomy. More than half (62%) had a permanent stoma, while 38% had a temporary stoma.

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Make Sure the Cost of Wound Care Makes Sense for Everyone

Most of us are familiar with the saying “you get what you pay for.” And when it comes to the cost of wound care products, there is definitely truth to that.

However, when considering the overall treatment plan, spending more doesn’t always equate to best practice or best results.

Cost-effective wound care means providing the most successful treatment to heal the wound at the least amount of cost. And with annual treatment costs of wound care in the billions in the U.S. alone, there’s plenty of reason to be cost conscious when choosing treatment strategies. Let’s take a look at some of the basic concepts behind this approach.

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From Transparent Dressings to Hydrogels, Wound Care Dressings You Use Every Day

Doctors treating girl's leg with bandages

As wound care professionals, wound care dressings are an important tool.

Keeping up to date on the types of wound care dressings available to treat patients in our care is our duty.

Wound care dressings come in various shapes, sizes and have indications for their use.

Professionals who treat wounds must remain aware of the types of wound care dressings they can use, as well as their contraindications. Here’s a list.

Transparent Film Dressings

Transparent wound care dressings are thin, transparent sheets of polyurethane coated with an adhesive and are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are semi-permeable, allowing the one-way passage of oxygen and moisture vapor, but are waterproof and impermeable to bacteria.

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Fungal Wound Infections: Identification, Treatment, and More

Some clinicians generally think of bacteria as the sole pathogen for chronic wounds.

But another culprit to consider when dealing with delayed wound healing is the presence of fungi that lead to fungal wound infection.

Romney Humphries, Ph.D., ABMM, professor and medical director of clinical microbiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, shared her expertise on fungal wounds.

“Wound infections caused by fungi occur when wounds are contaminated with spores,” Humphries said.

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State Practice Act Liability Affects All Members of Wound Care Team

Potential liability under your state practice act is something to always be aware of.

If you face an alleged violation of your practice act, professional disciplinary action can be initiated by the applicable board that administers and enforces the act.

Disciplinary actions are determined by each professional board such as the board of medicine, board of physical therapy, occupational therapy board, or board of nursing.

Professional disciplinary decisions are public records, and most state boards provide online access to them.

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Primary Skin Cancer: Types of Wounds You Might Encounter

No matter your practice environment, you’ll likely encounter patients with wounds related to primary skin cancer at some point.

To learn more about primary skin cancer wounds, we spoke with Joni Brinker, MSN/MHA, RN, WCC, an Ohio-based consultant and clinical nurse educator with Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

She also spoke during a session at our Wild on Wounds (WOW) national conference, for an overview of the need-to-know fundamentals.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in humans, Brinker said. “Generally, skin cancers are seen in older patients, so if you’re working with the elderly such as in long-term care, you’ll likely see skin cancers.”

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Legal Case Highlights Importance of Wound Care Documentation

We have discussed the importance of nurse expert testimony in cases alleging professional negligence against you.

One blog addressed a breach of your standard of care when providing wound care.

A second reviewed the importance of your wound care documentation in the patient’s medical record.

This article takes a look at the 2016 case, Henson v. Grenada Lake Medical Center, to underscore both of these important points.

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