Nursing for Wound Dressing

Before talking about nursing for wound dressing it is important to understand about wounds.

Wound-What is it?

Defined as an injury to the skin due to cuts, scrapes and punctures or a heavy blow, wound is, pathologically speaking, a sharp injury to the dermis layer of the skin. A wound is not only caused due to the injury suffered because of accidents, it is also caused by the surgical incisions and cuts made.

What are the types of Wound?

Wounds are essentially of two kinds

• Open wounds and
• Closed wounds.

Types of Open Wound and the objects that cause the same:

• Incision – a sharp cut caused by a sharp object like knife, razor or glass splinters.
• Lacerations – a deep cut or tear of the skin or flesh resulting in a jagged and irregular wound.
• Abrasions – superficial wound to the epidermis layer, caused by sliding fall.
• Avulsions – full or partial amputation of a body part not through surgical procedure, but as a result of been pulled off forcibly, caused by explosions or fatal accidents.
• Puncture – of the skin by objects like nails or splinters.
• Penetration – a wound made by knife or any other object that goes through a body part.
• Gunshot wounds – caused by bullets.

Types of Closed Wound:

Closed wounds are as dangerous as open wounds. There are two types of closed wound namely;

• Hematomas (Blood tumor) – caused by injury to a blood vessel, leading to blood collection under the skin.
• Crush injury – caused by extreme force applied over a long period of time.

Treatment of Wound:

The wound dressing of a minor open wound need not be attended by a doctor being easily treated at home. Such wounds, like superficial cuts and scrapes, are grouped under this category and wound dressing for minor open wound involves washing and cleaning and thereafter covering by a sterile dressing or bandage. Very minor kind of wounds needs just cleaning and kept dry to enable healing.

However a wound deeper than half inch and/or that, which does not stop bleeding even after applying pressure, need special procedure. It calls for various procedures like closing the open wound with skin glue, sutures and stitches to tetanus booster shots and administering pain medication, etc.

Treatment of Infected Wound:

Bacterial infestation of the wound causes infection. The wound dressing of infection involves the following preventive measures to be adopted;

• Preventive antibiotics – helps in killing bacteria cells.
• Use of slow releasing antiseptics slows down the growth of bacteria.

What Is Wound Dressing?

Medical care for wounds or wound dressing, is the treatment of a wound through application of varied techniques depending on the type of wound and involves;

• Providing local care to the skin, like debridement and dressing.
• Appling medicated bandages and compression.
• Treatment of wound Infection
• Treating Edema caused by injury to the skin.
• Maximizing blood circulation and oxygen to the site of the wound for faster healing

Types of Wound Care:

While some superficial wounds don’t demand much attention and would normally heal on its own, there are several other types of wounds that needs proper wound dressing to heal properly. Depending upon the type of wound a doctor would recommend the type of wound dressing to be done.

• Advanced wound dressings – to stop bleeding and absorb any secretion to aid healing of the wound.

Wound care dressings are of several types, namely;

• Hydrocolloid Dressings – mainly applied for burn injuries, pressure ulcers and venous ulcers.
• Hydrogel Dressings – used for the treatment of infected wounds and or wounds with little secretion.
• Alginate Dressings– particularly used to heal wounds with high amounts of wound drainage.
• Collagen Dressings – primarily used to treat large wounds, bed sores and transplant sites.
• Negative Pressure Wound Dressings – involves the technique of vacuum dressing to drain out excess secretion/fluid from the wound to simulate the flow of blood in the area to heal the wound.
• Debridement – involves the removal of any foreign object lodged in the wound or the removal of dead skin from the wound when the skin is unable to do so naturally.
• Wraps to decrease lower leg swelling – In this treatment technique, a bandage is tightly wrapped around the lower leg to reduce the swelling and increase blood circulation.

About Wound Care Nursing Services At Home:

Proper wound dressing and right wound care is very important for quick healing of the wound. The expert wound care nursing for wound dressing is now at your doorstep, made available by Portea Bangalore. The trained and experienced nurses for wound dressing are skilled in taking care of each type of wound and use the right procedure to prevent the risk of any complications, such as infections. Whether you suffer from pressure sores, injuries, bruises, infected wounds or need wound care at home after surgery, the trained and expert nurses aid proper wound dressing and promotes quick healing and all within the comforts of your home with the following added benefits of:

• Educating you & your family members about wound care
• At-Home Wound Care Promotes Healing
• Regular Wound Care At-Home Prevents Complications