Wound Care and the Treatment and Care of Wounds - Essay Example

Section/# Wound Care Wound care is one most common issues that a primary care giver will come in contact with during the course of administering his/her daily duties. Wound care is not focused specifically on trauma; instead, it can extend into issues concerning bed sores and a myriad of other health care engagements. As a result of the fact that the treatment and care of wounds is so important, a litany of different theories have been put forward by different individuals as a way of identifying, diagnosing, and treating wounds. Rather than providing a running commentary on all of these approaches, the following discussion will instead focus on common and widely accepted practice of diagnosing and treating wounds. It is the hope of this author that such a unit of analysis will be beneficial in not only providing the reader with a more informed understanding of how this process normally takes place within the medical sphere; but also with regard to furthering best practices within the medical community and spreading awareness of common techniques and practices. One of the most overlooked aspects of wound care is with respect to the fact that many medical professionals focus too much attention on identifying the type of wound and follow a rather limited procedure in terms of how the wound should be addressed. For instance, a wound sustained as the result of a fall could easily have foreign objects embedded beneath the skin or other tissues of the body. Similarly, a persistent bedsore is not likely to have embedded material that could potentially cause issues with respect to treating in healing the wound at a later date. Yet, as a function of simplicity, many medical professionals are oftentimes tempted to treat all wounds in the same manner. This is not only a shortsighted approach, it does not benefit the ultimate health and Outlook of the individual patient in question. This necessarily brings the analysis to the first and most salient point that should be discussed. Essentially, the role of identifying the wound, asking salient questions, and gathering relevant information is the first and most important process that any medical professional should engage in prior to attempting to dress the wound (Chen et al., 2013). As illustrated previously, a fall or similar wound that could have introduced foreign particles beneath the skin or tissue requires an alternative approach as compared to a wound that was sustained without direct trauma being applied to the individual. Likewise, with a wound sustained as a result of a fall or another type of trauma, it is required and necessary to perform either a fluoroscopy or an ultrasound to ensure that foreign particles have been removed. Naturally, medical professionals discretion can be utilized in cases in which the wound is of negligible size or is not likely to have been severe enough as to inject foreign particles deeply beneath the subcutaneous layers. However, in the event that the wound has the possibility for this to exist, it is necessary for the medical professional to engage these processes and to ensure that the wound is treated appropriately prior to being dressed and the patient being sent on their way (Cousins, 2014). Similarly, the location of the wound is something that is also of primal importance to the medical professional. In the event that a specific level of trauma was affected, it will be necessary to ascertain whether or not bones were broken beneath the surface. Oftentimes, this can easily be assessed visually or by performing key tactile movements with the help of the patient. In other situations, either as the result of unconsciousness or as a result of the part of the body in which the wound is exhibited, such a level of inference cannot be immediately drawn (Crossan & Cole, 2013). For this very reason, it is necessary to encourage the patient to undergo a series of x-rays in order to determine whether or not bones were broken beneath the skin. Beyond merely addressing a tangentially related aspect of patient health, the need to focus upon this particular aspect of healthcare provision is necessary so that the wound may be addressed and healed in an un-of cursive manner. For instance, if the wound is in fact dealt with only to find that a broken bone or fragments exist underneath the wound, it will then be necessary to go back in to the area and rectify the situation; potentially even surgically. Obviously, even though this is an invasive process, the worst case scenario would be one in which the patient had their wound treated and were sent on their way; only to return later with a much more severe issue that would ultimately require a more invasive approach – one that would negate any of the previous work that had been done on the wound in question. Yet, the medical professional should not understand the diagnosis alone serves as the fundamental difficulty with respect to wound care. Essentially, the way in which a medical professional deals with a wound that is the result of trauma as compared to the way in which a medical professional deals with a wound that is essentially the result of a score is completely and entirely different (Little et al., 2013). For instance, cleaning the wound of an individual involved in trauma involves ensuring that there are no foreign objects represented; as one of the main aspects of treating trauma wounds. By means of contrast and comparison, an individual that suffers from bedsores, a common type of wound that afflicts individuals that spend a large percentage of their time in bed rest - specifically older individuals, invariably involves careful and meticulous removal of septic skin prior to treating the wound and bandaging it. Whereas a younger individual will not likely suffer from issues relating to septis, the need for the medical professional to treat these wounds differently as compared to trauma wounds helps to further underscore the differential that has thus far been defined. References Chen, Y., Wang, Y., Chen, W., Smith, M., Huang, H., & Huang, L. (2013). The effectiveness of a health education intervention on self-care of traumatic wounds. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 22(17/18), 2499-2508. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04295.x Cousins, Y. (2014). Wound care considerations in neonates. Nursing Standard, 28(46), 61-70. Crossan, L., & Cole, E. (2013). Nursing challenges with a severely injured patient in critical care. Nursing In Critical Care, 18(5), 236-244. doi:10.1111/nicc.12019 Little, S. H., Menawat, S. S., Worzniak, M., & Fetters2\, M. D. (2013). Teaching wound care to family medicine residents on a wound care service. Advances In Medical Education & Practice, 4137-143. doi:10.2147/AMEP.S46785 Read More