Wound Care Diagnostics

By: Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

Being a wound care professional is often a lot like being a detective. You have to decide what caused the wound, what is contributing to its not healing and how you are going to get it to heal. I have decided to start a series of “cases” that are commonly overlooked or seen in the chronic wound care setting. The cases will focus on real-life scenarios—moisture-associated skin damage versus pressure injury, red leg syndrome versus venous stasis ulcer, how to identify pyoderma, and the importance of a moist wound healing environment. This series will also provide practical strategies for overcoming healing obstacles for slow, non-healing, and challenging wounds.

By Holly M. Hovan MSN, RN-BC, APRN.ACNS-BC, CWOCN-AP

Documentation is a huge part of our practice as wound care nurses. It is how we take credit for the care we provide to our patients and how we explain things so that other providers can understand what is going on with the patient, and it is used for legal and billing purposes as well.

By Martin Vera, LVN, CWS

Throughout my career I have been lucky enough to be part of several nursing branches: home health, long-term care, acute care, long-term acute care hospital, hospice, and even a tuberculosis hospital; wounds have no limitations on where they will appear. As a passionate clinician, teaching, coaching, and mentoring have become a huge part of what I do, as is true for most clinicians. We are teachers, coaches, and mentors driven by passion and wanting to help and put in our “two clinical cents” or “stamp” on the industry.

by Margaret Heale RN, MSc, CWOCN

Wound care can be so straightforward. The process starts with a comprehensive assessment, and then the wound care regimen can be planned and the frequency of dressing changes determined. A well-written order will include all of the relevant components of a wound care regimen listed below:

by Catherine Milne, APRN, MSN, ANP/ACNS-BC, CWOCN-AP

Columbus, OH – April 26, 2018 – A newly-issued patent emphasizes WoundWiseIQ’s advanced technical performance as an innovative healthcare technology leader through its algorithms which automatically calculate the area of a wound with significantly improved accuracy over similar offerings.

Gary Ross, CEO of the company says, “Achieving a patent for WoundWiseIQ is a major accomplishment for our company. It puts us at the top of the list in terms of automatic wound measurement providers with the most accurate and well-developed technology.”

by the WoundSource Editors

Have you ever had plaque buildup on your teeth, seen a thin clear film on the top of your pet's water bowl, or stepped into a locker room shower where the floor felt slick and slimy? If so, then did you realize these were all forms of biofilm? Biofilm is a complex microbial community containing self- and surface-attached microorganisms that are embedded in an extracellular polymeric substance, or EPS.^1,2 The EPS is the slimy substance in the previous examples and is primarily a polysaccharide protective matrix synthesized and secreted by the microorganisms that attaches the biofilm firmly to a living or non-living surface. This film protects the organisms from destruction first by being tenacious and keeping the microbial community strongly attached to a surface.

By Paula Erwin-Toth MSN, RN, CWOCN, CNS, FAAN

What's the best approach to wound management: use of the latest advanced technology or "back to basics" treatment methods? How many times have you, the experienced wound clinician, been asked this question? It is only natural for people (especially patients and their families) to gravitate to a solution that seems to offer a quick fix for a very complex problem.

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC

I see it all of the time. Wound care clinicians performing wound cultures incorrectly, or obtaining cultures just because there is an open wound. With this being said, there are certain health care settings where per protocol, swab cultures are taken on every wound, even without signs and symptoms of infection. But I want you to always ask yourself a few questions when determining if a culture is warranted: Are there signs and symptoms of infection? Is there an odor after the wound has been cleansed? Has wound healing stalled? Maybe there is a biofilm present?

By Thomas E. Serena MD, FACS, FACHM, FAPWCA

The Emperor's New Clothes was one of my favorite childhood stories. In this Hans Christian Anderson tale, two weavers clothe the emperor in what today would be referred to as "virtual finery." All of his ministers, advisers, factotums and subjects praise the beauty of the unseen linens until a small boy states the obvious truth, "Look, the Emperor is naked."