interested in wound care

[yourindecision]

i'm nearing graduation (this november) and i have a contract with a company who owns several hospitals in my state and elsewhere. there are many opportunities in different areas, but deciding on one is hard!

originally i decided to go to nursing school because i wanted to work in hospice. i still would like to be involved somehow, i just don't know to what degree.

i had a clinical in wound care and since then i've really given it serious thought. the doctor i would be working with is amazing and the rest of the staff was friendly towards me and wonderful with the clients.

the area intrigues me and i'd like some advice from any of you who work or have worked in wound care.

thanks! :wink2:

[RN1989]

To best serve your patients you really need to get baseline experience as a nurse. There are many factors that play into wounds and the care that is given. You need to have a solid foundation in diseases, labs/procedure testing, warning s/s, preventative care, patient education.

You will find many patients have undiagnoses problems that you must educate them on and assist them in getting care of their wounds will not heal. Many things will be so subtle that you will not catch them unless you have a firm background in health care and know the right questions to ask your patients. Sometimes a wound care nurse is the patients only trusted entry way into the healthcare system.

Wound care is also big money business. If you don't have a solid foundation, it is possible that you could end up harming someone or being put into a position of insurance fraud without even knowing it. Many hospital based wound care programs are actually run by/affiliated with for-profit companies. There are a lot of wound care directors who are willing to start fudging things in order to boost profits. The patients end up with treatments that are not needed and sometimes harmful just to improve the company's bottom line.

Get some experience before you try to specialize in this, for both your patient's and your sake.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I agree with the previous poster.

My former workplace hired a brand-new nurse who had only possessed nursing licensure for 1 whopping month before promoting her to the facility wound clinician (fancy title for wound care nurse). She lacked the bedside experience, attention to detail, and analytical skills that contribute to wound care success.

This new nurse was the wound clinician for 1 year before the facility terminated her employment. She was fired because the state tagged the facility for having too many non-healing wounds without proper follow-up. The wound care nurse carries plenty of responsibility and liability, and only an experienced person would be wise to fill this tremendous role. Good luck to you!

[yourindecision]

thank you both for your input. i will certainly keep your advice in mind, especially as graduation nears.

i'm hoping that during my preceptorship i'll get the chance to really get a feel for where i'd like to be in the future. :)