Wound Care Practicum Project essay

There are several reasons that can result to one developing a wound or wounds of various sizes. When proper care and approach towards treating some of these wounds are taken within the given time of occurrence, their healing and recovery of an individual affected is usually easy and fast (Yamane et al., 2013). However, in instances, where proper care is not initiated towards wound management, it can result to a death of that particular individual since it acts as a leeway for injecting thousands of pathogens into the body of the affected person (Williams et al., 2010). It also becomes costly in treatment and as a result can reduce welfare of the affected person. For instance, in the United States of America, chronic wounds affect close to 6.5 million people and this calls for great medical intervention, which is expensive as well (Yamane et al., 2013).

There are distinct types of wounds that affect people, and these classifications are based on different aspects. For example, Yamane et al. (2013) noted that there are wounds caused due to pressure on the body tissues, venous stasis ulcers, neuropathic ulcers, surgical wounds, and many others. Wounds can also be classified as either open or tissue wounds. Severity or risk involved in the wounds depends on how much they are exposed to pathogenic access (Yamane et al., 2013).

 

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With close focus on the pressure ulcers, there are also different levels of this kind of wounds. For example, the stage one pressure ulcer is when skin is still intact but is characterized by a non-bleachable redness of a localized area. This kind of wound is likely to be over a bony area. Yamane et al., (2013) indicated that this kind of wound might not be visible but on a dark skin, but its color might be different from the surrounding skin. The stage two wound is recognized by partial thickness and loss of dermis. It has a shallow opening and red pink bed but sloughs are not present (Hess, 2011). Stage three wound has full thickness, subcutaneous layers of fat can be easily seen with no bone, tendons or muscles exposed (Murphy & Evans, 2012). Finally, the stage five, the features of which are the worst, is characterized by full thickness of tissues, their loss, bones, muscles and tendons are exposed, some parts of this wound might have sloughs and eschars.

For a wound to be healed at the required pace, a lot of things have to be factored in. For instance, enough oxygen is a prerequisite. The wound should not be wet. Its location is also very important. Presence of coexistent diseases and nutrition of the affected individual also play very important role (Hess, 2011). Lack of their consideration will result to poor healing of the wound. In addition, Hess (2011) noted that personal care is very important when handling the wound because attending a doctor or nurse might not be ever present.

The process of wound healing goes through many stages, beginning with inflammatory phase, which sets in the tissues affected by injury; coagulation takes place to stop bleeding and the wound closes through primary intention. In addition, the symptoms that are usually encountered before the wound starts healing properly include pain, erythema, and edema (Williams et al., 2010). Then the migration of cells like fibroblasts to the injury site is stimulated by growth factors released by macrophages. Unlike the initial stage, which takes four days, proliferative stage takes between four and forty-two days. Finally, the mature stage can last from twenty four days to eighteen months; collagen degrades and remodels, scar tissues form and collagen fibers realign themselves (Guo & Dipietro, 2010).

Before any healing can take place, the wound bed tends to be in the form of a necrotic eschar and slough, which need to be debrided. If a wound is getting infected, it becomes painful; there is either increase or decrease in temperatures, and at times discharges appear. However, for healing to occur, the patient’s wound appears red. Moreover, the moist and fragile connective tissues can be identified around the affected area (Daley, 2014).

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In nutrition terms, treating wounds involves taking food rich in proteins and vitamins. Treatment also entails mechanical treatment, which is very necessary. In addition, when dressing the wound, excess exudates should be removed, high humidity of the wound should be avoided, and an optimum temperature to be maintained (Murphy & Evans, 2012). It is necessary to take adequate measures when treating the wound so that microorganisms cannot access it and survive on it. Indeed, the wound should be made free from contaminants and maintain the optimum pH. Furthermore, the kind of treatment that can be employed in the management of wounds is foam treatment, the use of membrane, hydrogels, hydrocolloids, alginates, collagens, impregnated gauze and finally, wound cleansers (Guo & Dipietro, 2010).

In conclusion, an appropriate dressing is relevant for wound management and subsequent treatment. Moreover, the cleanliness of wounds, infection control, continuous assessment and monitoring, and lastly, early intervention should be implemented before it is too late. These measures would facilitate the process of healing the wound. However, in cases where the wound is chronic and all measures are exhausted, the attending physician might consider amputating the part of the body affected. This means that the patient must maintain adequate personal hygiene during the process of treatment and management of the wound to facilitate healing.