Say Goodbye to Wet-to-Dry Wound Care Dressings:

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Home Healthcare Nurse:

July/August 2011 - Volume 29 - Issue 7 - p 429-440

Say Goodbye to Wet-to-Dry Wound Care Dressings: Changing the Culture of Wound Care Management Within Your Agency

In the past two decades, randomized controlled trials have repeatedly demonstrated that wet-to-dry dressings are not the most appropriate in all healthcare settings or wound care situations emphasizing the previously documented historical research. In fact, the first research-based recommendation for moist wound healing as opposed to allowing the wound to dry out was published nearly 50 years ago (Winter, 1963).

Research-based evidence published by the U.S. government as clincial practice guidelines has shown that a moist wound environment is a primary factor for the wound healing process to occur. Wet-to-dry dressings allow the wound base to dry and healing cells to desiccate within the wound. These dressings can also be very painful for the patient, they physiologically impede wound healing, and the labor and supplies involved can add up to unnecessarily spent dollars.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Sad this article is from 2011 (when it was already well-known wet to dry wasn't great) and we're STILL getting orders for it.

What's really annoying is that most of the orders for wet-to-dry I've had over the years, the doctor didn't actually intend for wet-to-dry to be done, they wanted a moist dressing.

Big reason I'm grateful we have a very involved team of WOCNs at our facility.