Wound Diagnostics

by Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON, FACCWS

"When I grow up, I want to be a wound care specialist." That's not something you hear kids going around saying. Sure, kids want to be doctors or nurses. But wound care specialist?

When you think about it, being a wound specialist is not a glamorous position, unlike being a neurosurgeon. The best quote that I ever heard from a colleague of mine was, "No one wants to do wound care; wound care isn't sexy." This may be true, but what is wound care then? To me it is ever changing, it is learning new things (most of which are not found in text books), and it is about helping patients heal both emotionally and physically from a chronic condition.

by the WoundSource Editors

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are ostensibly the most challenging types of chronic ulcerations to manage, given their multifactorial nature. Thorough, systematic assessment of a patient with a DFU is essential to developing a comprehensive plan of care. To implement the treatment plan successfully, clinicians and patients must work together to address each factor contributing to ulcer development and perpetuation.

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 the WoundSource Editors

by Susan Cleveland, BSN, RN, WCC, CDP, NADONA Board Secretary

Part 1 in a two-part series looking at the basics of preventing and managing moisture-associated skin damage in the long-term care setting.

by The WoundSource Editors

There are four stages of wound healing. This systematic process moves in a linear direction. The four stages of wound healing are: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation. It is imperative to remember that wound healing is not linear. It is possible for a patient to move forward or backward through the wound healing phases due to intrinsic and extrinsic forces.

by the WoundSource Editors

Given the impact of infection on delayed wound healing, determining the presence of colonization and infection is imperative to achieving healed outcomes.Chronic wounds are always contaminated, and timely implementation of management and treatment interventions is a key component of the plan of care.

By Martin D. Vera LVN, CWS

As devoted clinicians to the field of wound management we take a responsibility to educate ourselves and others about wound etiologies and characteristics, as well as management of barriers to achieve positive outcomes. We spend a great deal of our careers learning about the most common offenders, such as pressure injuries, diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, arterial wounds, amputations, and traumatic wounds, to name a few. However, as our careers unfold we are faced with extra challenges, and atypical wounds are among them.

By Martin D. Vera LVN, CWS

In this last of our three-part series on lower extremity wounds, we will focus our attention on diabetic foot/neuropathic ulcers. Research indicates that the United States national average for diabetes mellitus (DM) accounts for a little over 8% of the nation, or roughly over 18 million Americans afflicted with this disease—what the industry refers to "the silent killer" for the amount of damage it causes. DM has the capacity to affect vision and circulation, as well as increase the incidence of stroke and renal disease, just to name a few associated problems. Over 20% of individuals with diabetes will develop ulcerations, with a recurrence rate of over 50% for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) alone. Overall, lower extremity wounds have recurrence rate of 40-90%. We have our work cut out for us. So, let's put our deuces up, recognize early intervention, and try our best to manage and prevent complications associated with DM.

By Martin D. Vera LVN, CWS

As we move forward in our continuation of lower extremity wounds, we will now turn our attention to arterial wounds. In my previous post, we discussed challenges with venous leg ulcers. Lower extremity wounds continue to challenge clinicians on a daily basis. We often refer to them as "the big three" – or how I like to refer to them, "the pesky triplets." It doesn't matter what we call them, we know we are referring to venous leg ulcers, arterial ulcers, and diabetic foot ulcers. In no way shape or manner will we disregard the many other types of lower extremity wounds we may encounter as wound clinicians, but these three are the most common and often present with treatment challenges.