Wound Vac

[Choircat]

Who changes your wound vac dressings? RN or LPN?

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

PT does not change our wound vacs. They do more complex wound care such as whirlpool, and pulsivacs and stuff.

Wound vac changing is nothing more than a dressing change. Why couldn't an LPN do it?

They can be changed by an RN or an LPN at our facility. Usually every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

[bobnurse]

at our hospital, PT only does the wound vac's if they are performing sharp debreidment. If its a vac without sharp debr. then either the RN or LPN performs the dressing change.

[allele, LPN]

RN or LPN on our unit. We assess it ourselves using an extensive wound care flowsheet. I personally feel the flowsheet is too subjective, though. I've had patients that had wounds that were documented at being >75% eschar and when I see it two days later it's completely pink and healthy tissue. I mean, VACs are great but they're not THAT fast!! I agree with the poster that said wound team would be the best nurses to assess these wounds, even if it's just once a week. We have had education, but obviously not enough! Most of us just wait until the MD or PA-C is on the unit and make them look at the wound as we change the dressing.

[Fluesy]

Rn or LPN at our facility. Our PT do a lot of wound care referrals also.

Somehow this just feels like nurses giving away a core business. Wound care has been an integral part of nursing since Nightingale - why are we allowing others to do our work???

[nursemary9, BSN, RN]

At our facility it is either the Wound Care Nurse or PT.

At the Home Care Facility I did work for , A PT was the Wound Care Manager & did the initial visit and placement; then it was cared for by the RN Home Care Supervisor.

Mary Ann

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Somehow this just feels like nurses giving away a core business. Wound care has been an integral part of nursing since Nightingale - why are we allowing others to do our work???

Good point. We've turned over a lot of things over the years, such as Respiratory therapy. Probably due to the nursing "shortage".

The first time I heard of physical therapy doing wound therapy I thought it the most strange thing.

My spouse is the manager of a wound care clinic. All wound care is done by the RNs and LPNs.

[JHUBRAIN]

Who changes your wound vac dressings? RN or LPN?

Either one if they have had the class - We have a 2 hour class from KCI - They get a cerft at the end - God Bless

[javanurse2000, BSN, RN]

At our facility its the wound tx nurse who happens to be an LPN. An ineresting point about giving away nursing duties. Here in N. East S.C. the major hospitals are "doing away" with LPNs on the floor and hiring PCTs (patient care techs - a few months of training/education). They can do aseptic dsg changes, draw blood and change foley caths. I worked at the hospital over the summer a few years back. (i was one of the last to be hired for the floor). A unit manager on a floor I had floated to asked me (seriously) "Can you give insulin?" For the big $11.50 an hour I was being paid I decided to leave and do permanent LTC. I get to give insulin :0) AND feed my kids at the same time. P.S. we have a terrible nurses shortage at that hospital right now - go figure

[bobnurse]

well most places dont allow nurses to perform sharp debriedmnet. Thats the only reason PT does dressings in our hospital and in our area.

[nursenatalie, ADN, RN]

There is not usually sharp debridement involved in a wound vac dressing change. We have them all the time, and on more than one occasion the patient has pulled apart the dressing and it has had to be changed in the middle of the night. Dont know about your facility but at ours we dont have PT at night so if I were you I would be looking for some inservices on the wound vacs if I didnt know how!

[bobnurse]

There is not usually sharp debridement involved in a wound vac dressing change. We have them all the time, and on more than one occasion the patient has pulled apart the dressing and it has had to be changed in the middle of the night. Dont know about your facility but at ours we dont have PT at night so if I were you I would be looking for some inservices on the wound vacs if I didnt know how!

Well debridement is not part of the vac dressing change, but its usually a part of the wound care. Many places use enzymatic debriedment versus sharp....

[CSLee3, ASN, BSN, LVN, EMT-P]

Hey guys, you gotta here this! In Nursing school, doing clinicals at large teaching hospital I was caring for a stage 4 decube.....and in walks a man, suit and tie, takes off his jacket, lossens his tie, gloves up, asks me to assist him. He then proceeds to check wound, trim and fit new foam, tegaderm it, replace filter catcher and turn that puppy on....I assumed he was many of the MD Residents or Med Students on the floor. I followed him out to the station and learned he was a sales rep for the company, KCI. He gave me a business card! Apparently none of the nurses on that day had been inserviced on the unit so he just went and there and took care of it as it was past due time to do wound care. Before you panic...he was an RN, BSN but solely worked as a sales rep! WOW, we talked about that one for a while.....C