wound question

Shutter · Oct 31, 2003

Whoever told you this does not know what they are talking about! As a wound care nurse for a home health care agency I have never heard this or read it. If changing the dressing and exposing the wound to air slowed down the healing process for any length of time, we would never get a wound to heal. I'd like to know where she got this information from. Sounds to me like this nurse just doesn't want to do the job.

New CCU RN · Oct 31, 2003

sounds like BS to me too!!!

kids · Oct 31, 2003

Sounds to me like *somebody* is taking the moist environment idea a bit far.

Burt I have to ask...what kind of wound?

RN~in~CT · Oct 31, 2003

I've never heard of that.

Shutter · Oct 31, 2003

Hey, I need to apologize! I was wrong in what I said in my original post about this not being a true idea (re delaying wound healing 7 hours with each dressing change). I talked to our ET/WOCN at work this morning about it. She said this is true! It has to do with the fact that exposing the wound to air lowers the internal temperature of the wound and interupts the biologic process the body has started. The wound must warm up again to the "proper" temperature before the process can continue. She explained it better than that, but I can't remember all the technical details right now. I sure learned something though! I'm glad I have her as a very available and willing resource.

Again, my apologies for replying to your question before I had checked all the information.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2003

Okay even if its true, still means we need to do our jobs and change the dressings. I can hear my one nurse now....."But I'll slow down the wound healing if I change it every day..." But really, just another reason why its so important to have the right dressing and frequency of changing it.

I guess my mother was wrong when she said it was better to leave it open to air

Michelle 126

Band Aid Junkie:D

RN~in~CT · Nov 1, 2003

Originally posted by Shutter
Hey, I need to apologize! I was wrong in what I said in my original post about this not being a true idea (re delaying wound healing 7 hours with each dressing change). I talked to our ET/WOCN at work this morning about it. She said this is true! It has to do with the fact that exposing the wound to air lowers the internal temperature of the wound and interupts the biologic process the body has started. The wound must warm up again to the "proper" temperature before the process can continue. She explained it better than that, but I can't remember all the technical details right now. I sure learned something though! I'm glad I have her as a very available and willing resource.

Again, my apologies for replying to your question before I had checked all the information.

Thanks for the update! Learned something new today :)

kids · Nov 2, 2003

Originally posted by RN~in~CT
Thanks for the update! Learned something new today :)

Yes, thank you. I too learned something new.

sevans · Nov 4, 2003

Leaving a dressing in place as long as possible does not necessarily mean someone is not doing their job. This is one of the rationales behind many of the newer dressings that are designed to stay in place 3-7 days. While they are not suitable for all wounds, many times the orders for dressings that require daily dressing changes are due to tradition, rather than necessity.

Shutter · Nov 4, 2003

I understand the rationale behnd the newer generation of dressings. We are using several of them for that very reason. I made my original reply to this thread without having all the details. As I said before I was wrong and I'm sorry.

You are right...too many of our orders are based on tradition and not on current knowledge. We have a constant battle with many of the doctors in our area trying to get them to even consider some of the new products. It's a long process, but a few of them are starting to listen. As nurses we have a responsibility to help educate the doctors (however difficult and/or unpleasant this may be) as well as our patients. We also need to help educate each other...which is the main reason I started using this site ( I need to increase my knowledge level and hopefully can help some others as well).

This whole situation was definitely a lesson for me in several ways!

Jewelrmn · Feb 6, 2004

In reply to all who have written on this subject:

The taking down of dressings does prolong healing rate.

Those who have posted that this is due to a drop in temperature are correct.

Those who claim that the new type dressings are designed to require less changes are right.

Heres a few tips for you.

When changing a dressing, ensure that all equipment is ready so that speed in dressing change is facilitated.

Ensure that the wound cleansing solution is warmed to wound temperature.

Try to encourage doctors not to take down dressings just for the sake of it. Empower yourself, docs generally know less about wounds than nurses do, so whats the point.

If you need to take down a dressing and are unable to replace it immediately, cover it with something whilst you wait, either a piece of non adhesive dressing or even plastic wrap will do the job of keeping the wound warm.

Good luck