I hate wound care terminology

[Emergent]

I really admire wound care specialists. I'm so bad at it. When I am forced to describe a wound or skin problem I always have to resort to layman talk; scabby, flaky, reddened, etc.

Wound care terminology is like an eskimo describing snow.

[01928437]

Wound nurses are awesome! Floor staff can't stage ulcers at my facility. We can only describe what we see and request a WOC consult. Luckily the advice to describe drainage that looks suspicious for infection as "purulent" instead of the adjective version of "pus" has stayed with me.

[AngelKissed857, BSN, RN]

I think you either love it or hate it.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Wound nurses are awesome! Floor staff can't stage ulcers at my facility. We can only describe what we see and request a WOC consult. Luckily the advice to describe drainage that looks suspicious for infection as "purulent" instead of the adjective version of "pus" has stayed with me.

The reason floor nurses should not stage wounds is because if you stage it a 2 and chart it then the WOC comes in and stages it a 3. The carting looks like the wound got worse under the hospital's care.

I was taught to say something like this "Hardened red area on the coxxyx, non blanchable open at proximal end. Physician informed and WOC consult requested." Then WOC comes in and stages it a 2.

Hppy

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I didn't realize how out of date I was in the world of wound care until I fell at Disney World and tore up my right shin. I mean, I really did a job on it---it was deep and I even nicked an artery, making it bleed like a stuck pig. (Now there's some technical jargon right there, haha!) The ER doc stitched it together as best he could, but I developed cellulitis and the wound ended up being completely covered by eschar. I had to have minor surgery to remove it. Luckily I was able to do my own wound care, which consisted merely of cleaning it, putting antibiotic ointment and Xeroform on it, and covering with Kerlix and a Tubigrip sock daily.

It took four months to heal. But 10 or 15 years ago, I probably would have had skin grafting or a wound vac---it was that deep. And my trauma surgeon did talk about it, but it turned out to be unnecessary. I was afraid the scarring would be bad, but it's really not that noticeable. It's really amazing how something so simple could heal what was a nasty wound.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Speaking of wound jargon, did y'all know that we're not supposed to use "skin tear" anymore but instead "superficial traumatic wound"?

Describing wounds has not been my best work, either. I think the best thing, if there is a way to do it that is in line with your institution/company's policy and the patient's consent, take a picture!

[brownbook]

My personal wound care stupidity.

I got a very superficial 1 1/2 cm abrasion on my upper arm. I put a decent standard wound healing bandage on it, and left it on for about 5 days.

Finally thought maybe it was time to take it off. YUCK, it was all yellowish exudate. I still have a scar there!

My grandson had a very small superficial scrape on his shin. Me, the brilliant nurse, kept saying it was fine. I guess it was bothering him, or taking a while to heal. His mom insisted he see the doctor. I had to take him while mom was at work. The doctor put him on antibiotics and "educated me" that shin wounds are so close to the bone they can easily cause problems.

[Davey Do]

My personal wound care stupidity.

I got a very superficial 1 1/2 cm abrasion on my upper arm. I put a decent standard wound healing bandage on it, and left it on for about 5 days.

Finally thought maybe it was time to take it off. YUCK, it was all yellowish exudate.

Obviously the description of your wound is offensive to Clint, but I am still very attracted to your techy talk and candor, brownbook!

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

One time in LTACH we got a patient from low level group home with mysterious symptoms and wound on his abdomen. The group home had no RN on premices, only one LPN who clearly left school around the time when the last dinosaurs roamed the Earth. She was locally known for very detailed and very unprofessionally expressed documentation.

That time, the description sounded approximately like this: a hole wide enough to pass two my gloved fingers; upon taking them out, they smelled like Sloppy Joe patient just ate, but a good deal rotten.

It was gastrocolonic fistula, after all. The food passed directly from stomach to transwerse colon and from there out farther away or on skin. We were thinking long time who else would imagine sticking fingers into that badly looking "hole" and then smelling them, noticing what was eaten an hour before.

Was this LPN blind, deaf and mute?

Because thats the only way I can possibly think someone could miss a wound that bad

That said, I did have a colleage who when handing over to me told me that the dressing came off a patients cavity over the left ischael tuberosity and that she did not reapply the dressing because she couldnt see the wound (which was approx 1cm in diameter and about five cm deep)

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

I'm a wound geek.

My first position out of college was district nursing where we did alot of wound care, from non complex skin tears and abarasions to venous ulcers, cavities, negative pressure dressings, compression

I was really lucky and learned wounds under a wound nurse specialist.

My happy place is seeing wounds progress. I recall one person I was visiting 3 times a week to apply a VAC dressing. It was very exciting because every time I visited there was a solid 1/2 cm of new epithelial tissue around the outside of the wound.

[Orion81RN]

Speaking of wound jargon, did y'all know that we're not supposed to use "skin tear" anymore but instead "superficial traumatic wound"?

Describing wounds has not been my best work, either. I think the best thing, if there is a way to do it that is in line with your institution/company's policy and the patient's consent, take a picture!

Very interesting! I think I remember policy at my last facility being not to use the term skin tear, but to simply describe it. Boy do facilities do whatever they can to cover their butts.

I don't know that superficial *traumatic* wound sounds much better though.

[Orion81RN]

I'm a wound geek.

My first position out of college was district nursing where we did alot of wound care, from non complex skin tears and abarasions to venous ulcers, cavities, negative pressure dressings, compression

I was really lucky and learned wounds under a wound nurse specialist.

My happy place is seeing wounds progress. I recall one person I was visiting 3 times a week to apply a VAC dressing. It was very exciting because every time I visited there was a solid 1/2 cm of new epithelial tissue around the outside of the wound.

Floor nurses when you guys leave the building: tears streaming down our faces, saying, "don't go!" Because right after you leave someone's dressing is bound to come off, someone else gets theirs totally wet....and the wound vacs....oh the wound vacs....beep beep beep! And "ain't nobody got time for that!"

Oh how I love wound care nurses.

[Roy Hanson]

I prefer laymans terms because it makes the patient more comfortable. Talking tech, is nice for the nurses ego, but makes the patient nervous. Understand the patient is the recipient of everything YOU do, so KISS!!