Wound care certification necessary?

[Bostonnurse06]

My coworker and I are disagreeing on how to take care of residents with wounds. She wants every resident with a wound to be seen by the wound doctor, even if it's a small wound or the resident is on hospice. I believe that as an RN, I am able to assess a wound, then report my assessment to the PCP to obtain treatment orders. Obviously I would have the wound doctor see the more complex residents, but I feel like basic wound care is part of nursing. What do you think- does the wound doc have to see every wound in the building?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

What do you think- does the wound doc have to see every wound in the building?

The wound physician does not need to see all wounds. It would be silly for him/her to round on residents with simple skin tears, abrasions, open blisters, and so forth.

Of course, wounds with more complexities and liability issues (e.g., pressure ulcers, fungating wounds, open hematomas, infected incisions) should be assessed by the wound doctor.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Many facilities, especially smaller ones, do not have wound doctors come in. Caring for wounds should be part of every nurse's repertoire of skills.

[notanumber]

We don't have wound docs here. 95% of wound care is a result of nursing collaboration to create a treatment plan and schedule of reassessment along with involving other disciplines as necessary (dietitian, OT/PT). For the 5% of more complex/non-healing wounds, we have a community ET nurse who we make out referrals to - they develop a protocol for us to follow and then it's on us to follow-up for more advice if needed. Our facility also puts out wound care modules on occasion to help keep our treatment skills up to date.