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Wound assessment is a component of wound management.As far as may be practical, the assessment is to be accomplished before prescribing any treatment plan. The objective is to collect information about the patient and about the wound, that may be relevant to planning and implementing the treatment.
Wound, ostomy, and continence nursing is a nursing specialty involved with the treatment of patients with acute and chronic wounds, patients with an ostomy (those who have had some kind of bowel or bladder diversion), and patients with incontinence conditions (those with issues of bladder control, bowel control, and associated skin care).
Other assessment tools may focus on a specific aspect of the patient's care. For example, the Waterlow score and the Braden scale deals with a patient's risk of developing a Pressure ulcer (decubitus ulcer), the Glasgow Coma Scale measures the conscious state of a person, and various pain scales exist to assess the "fifth vital sign".
Wound assessment is a vital first step in the precision management process. The purpose of wound assessment is: To identify: the origin of the wound, the effects of the wound on the individual, the effects of the individual on the wound. To determine: if healing is taking place, the most appropriate management of the wound. To gather data:
Pressure ulcers can trigger other ailments, cause considerable suffering, and can be expensive to treat. Some complications include autonomic dysreflexia, bladder distension, bone infection, pyarthrosis, sepsis, amyloidosis, anemia, urethral fistula, gangrene and very rarely malignant transformation (Marjolin's ulcer – secondary carcinomas in chronic wounds).
The World Health Organization (WHO) published the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008 in order to increase the safety of patients undergoing surgery. [1] The checklist serves to remind the surgical team of important items to be performed before and after the surgical procedure in order to reduce adverse events such as surgical site infections or retained instruments. [1]
The end goal of wound management is closure of the wound which can be achieved by primary closure, delayed primary closure, or healing by secondary intention, each of which is discussed below. Pain control is a mainstay of wound management, as wound evaluation, wound cleansing, and dressing changes can be a painful process. [27]
A nursing care component is defined as a cluster of elements that represents a unique pattern of clinical care nursing practice; namely, Health Behavioral, Functional, Physiological, and Psychological. Nursing Diagnoses: A clinical judgment about the healthcare consumer's response to actual or potential health conditions or needs.