Getting more wound care Experience.

[vettechgrl]

Hello everyone. I've been a nurse for a little over 2 years and I have been working with Hospice. Today I interviewed for a position at a wound care clinic. I loved the staff and the clinic setting and would be so excited to work there. However, I got the impression they wanted to fill this PRN position with a more experienced wound care nurse. So my question is how can I get that experience they are looking for that would enable me to be a more suitable candidate in the future? I'm very interested in this speciality but I feel at a loss as to how to pursue it. Thanks for any thoughts.

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

The typical goals of hospice wound management (drainage management, odor control, comfort) are different from those in other settings but the assessment of a wound is the same. I would recommend getting a wound resource book to learn more about wounds and practice every opportunity you can on assessment/ documentation. I work in hospice and have both a palliative care wound book I refer to as well as "regular" wound resources.

Education about prevention of wounds is another area that you would need to be familiar with for wound care. Some of the risk factors can't be altered for hospice patients but I still do a lot of education to prevent unnecessary wounds. Turning/ repositioning, floating heels, incontinence care, ensuring other interventions aren't creating pressure points etc. Wounds can affect quality of life even for a hospice patient. And I've had to get really creative on dressings for some of the fungating cancer wounds I've encountered. As fragile as many of patient's skin is, I have to diligent about dressings not impairing skin integrity (tape!!!).

Do you have a home health care division associated with your hospice? This might be a way to get some wound experience if you ever have the option to get overtime or float if low census and floating is an option.

Skilled nursing facilities are another great place to learn/ practice with wounds. That's where I got my initial experience. Most have a designated wound nurse who is a wealth of knowledge.

[pro-student]

I second that long-term care is a great setting to get wound care experience especially subacute or rehab. This is where I learned and got plenty of experience. Plus since the pts are there for some time you get to see the healing process over time. You will also get to know how other health conditions interact with wound care and healing since most pts will have multiple co-morbidities. There's often a wound care nurse, sometimes wound care rounds you could tag along on, and other nurses would always welcome a hand with wound care and dressing changes.