Taking Pictures of wounds

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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....

Specializes in MDS coordinator, hospice, ortho/ neuro.
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.

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.

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...

Specializes in Palliative Care, NICU/NNP.

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.

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

I jest.

Specializes in nursing home care.

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.

Specializes in Palliative Care, NICU/NNP.
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.

Specializes in Administration.

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.

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

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