Wound Care

The day-to-day responsibility for wound management is a role usually undertaken by nurses. It includes assessing the wound, selecting an appropriate treatment, and evaluating the patients' progress. In order to do this effectively the nurse needs to understand the healing process, recognize the factors which may delay wound healing, understand how wound healing can be optimized, know how to recognize complications if they arise and know how to treat them.

This text, specifically written for community nurses, including practice nurses, provides a picture of wound healing for both acute and chronic wounds that may be encountered in a community setting. An overview of the function of the skin and phases of wound healing are examined prior to looking at the relationship between wound healing and the patients' health and lifestyle.

The reference is written in a question-and-answer format, and includes relevant case studies.

Series Preface vii

Preface ix

Chapter 1 Wound healing 1

Chapter 2 Wound assessment 11

Chapter 3 Factors affecting wound healing 23

Chapter 4 Wound cleansing 30

Chapter 5 Dressings 33

Chapter 6 Surgical wounds 45

Chapter 7 Burns, scalds and minor injuries 50

Chapter 8 Leg ulcers 56

Chapter 9 Pressure sores 81

Chapter 10 Wound infection 95

Chapter 11 Miscellaneous 105

Chapter 12 Clinical effectiveness, Sarah Freeman 111

Glossary 129

Resources 133

References 136

Index 143

Joy Rainey is the author of Wound Care: A Handbook for Community Nurses , published by Wiley. The day-to-day responsibility for wound management is a role usually undertaken by nurses. It includes assessing the wound, selecting an appropriate treatment, and evaluating the patients' progress. In order to do this effectively the nurse needs to understand the healing process, recognize the factors which may delay wound healing, understand how wound healing can be optimized, know how to recognize complications if they arise and know how to treat them.

This text, specifically written for community nurses, including practice nurses, provides a picture of wound healing for both acute and chronic wounds that may be encountered in a community setting. An overview of the function of the skin and phases of wound healing are examined prior to looking at the relationship between wound healing and the patients' health and lifestyle.

The reference is written in a question-and-answer format, and includes relevant case studies.