Need Opinion on becoming a Wound Care Nurse...

[SandyLV]

hi:

i am still a nursing student but i'm very interested in becoming a wound care nurse.

i have been dealing with a good share of different types decubitus in my clinicals and find it extremely rewarding when i see my patients (clients) healing...

i am intrigued and fascinated at the wonderful way our body was created to basically heal itself (with a little help of course).

would anyone please tell me if this a good field to get into....is it possible to start while i am in nursing school? or am i just dreaming and these specialty nurses need like a 20-year-experience requirement.

thank you beforehand for your kind responses.

sandy :)

[rouqie]

I also have not heard of anyone being certified and making $15,000 more a year. My work has offered to pay for my schooling but no raise was even mentioned. So if your getting certified for the money you better do some fact checking before you start investing your time and money.

[mmm333, LVN]

Wound Care in some settings is a very physical job. You can't wait for CNAs, you have many patients to see, and you need to work fast and do lifts/repositioning and transfers yourself much of the time. Many pts do not cooperate and some are combative. Many have dementia. That's part of why they got wounds to begin with- they were hard to care for. It takes a special sort of person to do wound care especially in LTC. The pay isn't great for what they deal with day-to-day. You will also take on a huge liability legally because all kinds of problems can be traced back to infections and wounds and the documentation leads back to YOU- even a small cut could be the beginning of the end for a diabetic or elder and YOU are the one healing it. It is a highly litigious field to get into so you'd better have insurance and be ready to go to court at least a few times in your career. You also forfeit the general nursing experience you could be getting in ICU or Tele because you are now very focused on a narrow range of treatment. If that all sounds fine to you, you may find enrichment in this area.