What is a wound care nurse?

What is a wound care nurse?

 

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

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.

The wound care scope of practice involves a lot more than cleaning and dressing wounds. Chronic and acute wounds require the attention of experts equipped with the skills to monitor and assess wounds effectively while simultaneously educating patients on at-home wound care best practices. Here are just a few of the many areas a wound care nurse might address on a given day:

– Pressure injuries: Pressure injuries are one of the most common types of wounds a nurse will deal with as a wound care provider. While pressure injuries occur in all care markets, they are particularly prevalent in both long-term and post-acute care environments – including hospice and home health settings – where patients remain sedentary for extensive periods of time. Wound care nurses assess pressure injuries, identify treatment options, and implement wound care best practices to prevent future injuries from occurring.
– Foot care: Due to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes within the U.S., diabetic foot care is in high demand. Wound care nurses have the skills to manage foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. They also teach patients how to maintain a healthy foot care routine on their own, in many cases helping them prevent amputations.
– Burn treatment: All burns, even first-degree ones, can be very painful for a patient. How a wound care nurse treats a burn depends on its severity (first-, second-, or third-degree), location, and size. Antibiotic ointments are commonly used in second-degree burn care to ward off infection. There is also a number of dressing options for a nurse to choose from when assessing and bandaging the wound, some of which may need to be changed more often than others. All burns must be closely monitored throughout the healing process.
– Traumatic wound care: Skin tears, lacerations, and wounds that penetrate the tissue all fall into the traumatic wound care category. Whether caused by a dog bite, car accident, or some other force, the severity of these wounds is based on the damage to the skin and underlying tissue. All traumatic wounds must be cleaned and assessed. Comprehensive care plans created with appropriate treatment measures will ensure the wound heals correctly.
– Educating patients and families: Education is one of the most important parts of any wound care nurse’s job. Through verbal instruction and hands-on training and demonstrations, wound care nurses empower patients and their families with a sustainable, self-sufficient care routine they can follow outside of a hospital setting.

Slovníček

wound care – péče o rány
to rely on – spoléhat se, spolehnout se, počítat s čím; být odkázán, být závislý
keep someone safe from (infection) – chránit koho před čím (infekcí)
to mitigate – zmírnit, zklidnit, ztišit, ulehčit od čeho
pressure injuries – dekubity
healing – hojení, léčení, uzdravování
scope of practice – rozsah praxe
to dress (a wound) – ovázat, ošetřit (ránu)
to address – pustit se do čeho, zaměřit se na co
provider – poskytovatel, dodavatel
care market – trh (zdravotní) péče
to prevent (something from occurring) – zabránit čemu
to be in high demand – být velmi žádaný; jít dobře na odbyt
severity – vážnost, závažnost; přísnost, tvrdost; strohost
ointment – mast, mastička, mazání
to ward off – odvrátit, zahnat, zažehnat
tear – trhlina, tržná rána
to fall into – spadat, náležet, patřit
whether… or – ať už… nebo…
underlying – spodní, pod povrchem; základní, zásadní
comprehensive – detailní; zevrubný, obsáhlý; všeobecný
through – pomocí, prostřednictvím; skrze, přes
hands-on training – praktický nácvik
to empower – umožnit, dovolit; zmocnit, oprávnit, zplnomocnit
self-sufficient – soběstačný

 

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Source: SANDSTROM J. What is a wound care nurse? Relias 2020. [online]. Available from www.relias.com/blog/what-is-a-wound-care-nurse.

 

 

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