Taking Pictures of wounds

[CapeCodMermaid]

How many of all y'all take pictures of pressure wounds on a regular basis? I worked at a place once where we took a picture every week to show progress. The place I work at now does not recommend taking pictures. We are in the midst of a discussion. They say it show's progress or not....I say the pic is only as good as the photographer and the camera....

[fluffwad]

Yeah, our facility won't do it because they say it is a confidentiality issue, ..

We had one little problem with this........one day the nurse doing the pictures was working on a PC where the folks in the hallway had full view of the butts on the screen.

[bobnurse]

We had one little problem with this........one day the nurse doing the pictures was working on a PC where the folks in the hallway had full view of the butts on the screen.

Your suppose to drape out those areas, unless they are involved. Also get a screen blurrer, so anyone else looking at the screen sees a blurred image. Only the person sitting in front of the monitor can see a clear picture.

we dont use photo shop. We put in the SDRAM card into our printer, it has a small viewing screen to scroll on it. and we print out the 4x6 picture.

And yes you can tell if a photo has been altered. Its complicated but can be done with the proper software.

[teresalpn]

hello there,

i work in a nursing home in tenn as treatment nurse.we are not allowed to take pictures there..we just use the measuresments and a graph tool...

[ginger58, ASN, RN]

PT or whoever was managing wounds would photograph them every so often. They were immediately placed in the progress notes and pt consent wasn't obtained.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

We draw and measure them. But only RN's have the requisite intelligence and expertise to so do.

I jest.

[marjoriemac, LPN]

I have rarely seen wounds that need to be photographed. I agree that it can be difficult to compare wounds from pictures when they are at different angles, taken from different distances etc. Mainly prefer a thorough written assessment of the wound.

[ginger58, ASN, RN]

I have rarely seen wounds that need to be photographed. I agree that it can be difficult to compare wounds from pictures when they are at different angles, taken from different distances etc. Mainly prefer a thorough written assessment of the wound.

You'd be surprised what photos show. The wound is also graphed on those clear sheets and there is a written description. As the bedside nurse I found looking at the photos very helpful as far as seeing progress and the angles were pretty much the same, IMHO.

[Mrs. M.]

We photograph the wound initially, then weekly. We get a consent signed from the patient or conservator.

As for altering photos, they are no easier to falsify than our description/measurements in our documentation. If nurses are willing to falsify a legal document they don't need Photoshop to do it.

[Boopette RN]

We take pictures of wounds that residents are admitted with, but none after that, only record the progress on the weekly decub report sheets.