Using the Right Wound Dressing - Essay Example

1. Effects of Poor Wound Management

Poor wound management has several negative effects. First, it causes protracted pain in patients (World Union of Wound Healing Societies, n.p.). As the wound worsens, it becomes more difficult to handle making it hard for patients to continue with their normal lives. Secondly, poor wound management increases the cost of medication on the wound. The patient will spend more as the wound takes longer to heal. Lastly, the patient’s productivity takes a downward trend because it takes the patient longer to heal and return to work. However, all these negative effects can be mitigated by using the right wound dressing.

2. Using the Right Wound Dressing

Using the right wound dressing is an effective method of ensuring quick wound healing. The right wound dressing involves the use of the most effective material for dressing wounds. I have observed that most employees have been using the Aquacel Ag silver and fiber-based dressing due to its lower level of foreign body reaction and consequent tissue disruption, compare to its counterpart, Silversea. Nevertheless, the potential adverse effects of Aquacel are significantly higher than those of Silvercel due to its elevated dressing deposition (Bradbury, Ivins and Harding, p.12). This is the reason why employees and patients with wounds have been taking longer than normal to heal.

I wish to suggest a switch from the use of Aquacel to Silversea. This is because Silvercel is more efficient than Aquacel in wound exudates management. When Silversea is exposed to high levels of wound exudates, it not only retains its shape and mechanical strength but also remains on the site of application. Therefore, there is less interference with the wound compared to Aquacel which does not always remain at the wound site. In addition, the ability to manage high levels of wound exudates by Silvercel enables patients to attend to their wounds without necessarily having to seek professional care as it is less technical to work with compared to Aquacel (World Union of Wound Healing Societies, n.p.). I, therefore, advise that instead of using Aquacel, which is less efficient in the management of wound exudates, the institution’s policy changes to the use of Silversea.

With the suggested measures in place, I have full confidence that the current problem of wounds taking longer than normal to heal will be addressed effectively.