Understanding the physiology of wound healing and the functions of the available dressings are prerequisites for accurate wound assessment and efficient wound treatment. For optimum wound healing, it is crucial that a continuous process of assessment, clinical judgment, intervention, and recording take place. As a healthcare professional working in the ER, the most common types of wounds that I have dealt with were medium sized blunt force traumas such as skin tears.
The effective wound management begins with an adequate wound assessment. The following factors should be taken into account while performing initial and ongoing wound assessments to enable optimal management in coordination with the treating team (Rowley-Conwy, 2012). The healthcare professionals should be able to identify the type of a wound, its aetiology, location and surrounding skin, tissue loss, measurements and dimensions, presence of infection and levels of pain (Parkar & Cromarty, 2020). Each of the characteristics has its own complex classifications. Some of the crucial points to elaborate her are presence of infection and pain.
In order to select the best dressing, an accurate assessment of pain is necessary. Prior to, during, and after the dressing change, the assessment of pain may offer crucial information for ongoing wound management and dressing selection. At various phases of healing, a wound will require various management and therapy (Bonham, 2016, p.61). Every wound requires a different dressing, so it is necessary to check the wound frequently. The environment must be sterile, moist (but not wet), protected from heat loss, stress, and bacterial invasion for wound healing to occur as quickly as possible (Mahoney, 2020). There are many different dressings from which to choose. Accurate wound evaluation and current knowledge of the various dressings are both necessary for effective dressing selection (Ayello, Elizabeth A). Most of the wounds that are characterized by abnormal pain or signs of infection must be addressed by a specialist after emergent treatment.
Bibliography
Bonham, Joseph (2016) Assessment and management of patients with minor traumatic wounds, Nursing Standard, 31(8), pp. 60-70
Mahoney, Kristy. (2020). Part 1: Wound assessment. Journal of Community Nursing, vol. 34, no. 2.
Parkar, H. P., & Cromarty, D. C. (2020). Wounds: an overlooked burden (Part 1)-effective wound management starts with proper wound assessment. South African General Practitioner, 1(5), 196-198.
Rowley-Conwy, G (2012) Management of minor burns in the emergency department, Nursing Standard, 2012, Vol. 26 Issue 24, p. 60