On Thursday, August 24, 2017 I got the experience to follow Horizon Specialty Hospital of Henderson’s Wound Care Team. During this experience, I was able to witness the removal of a wound VAC (vacuum assisted closure) and surgical stitches, different methods of wound monitoring and discussed the healing process. For new admissions, the Wound Care Team does a physical examination of the body, looking for any wounds, bruises, scars, tubes and IV placements. They take pictures, measurements and note the location of the wound. Since the hospital still uses paper charting, they handwrite all of their notes and upload them to the patients' medical chart when done with their assessment.
What impacted me the most was how pressure ulcers develop and the level of severity that it can reach at. For instance, on the patient that I witnessed the removal of the wound VAC, the patient had a pressure ulcer in the coccyx area, that was an estimated three …show more content…
During the last couple of weeks, from a dietitian’s point of view, it was very easy to miss all of the duties performed by LPNs, CNAs and RNs. Furthermore, I now feel more confident knowing how beneficial it is to accurately calculate a patient caloric and protein needs for severe wound healing. There are many types of wounds which include surgical, burns, pressure and diabetic ulcers. Furthermore, it was also interesting to note that once a wound is diagnosed stage 1-4 and if it heals completely during the hospital stay, it can never be re-diagnosed at a lower stage. For instance, it will always be called a stage 3 wound even thought it was healed. This is because while the patient is still in the hospital it is more susceptible to reopening. Once they leave the hospital and readmit, if the wound is already healed then it can be diagnosed
What impacted me the most was how pressure ulcers develop and the level of severity that it can reach at. For instance, on the patient that I witnessed the removal of the wound VAC, the patient had a pressure ulcer in the coccyx area, that was an estimated three …show more content…
During the last couple of weeks, from a dietitian’s point of view, it was very easy to miss all of the duties performed by LPNs, CNAs and RNs. Furthermore, I now feel more confident knowing how beneficial it is to accurately calculate a patient caloric and protein needs for severe wound healing. There are many types of wounds which include surgical, burns, pressure and diabetic ulcers. Furthermore, it was also interesting to note that once a wound is diagnosed stage 1-4 and if it heals completely during the hospital stay, it can never be re-diagnosed at a lower stage. For instance, it will always be called a stage 3 wound even thought it was healed. This is because while the patient is still in the hospital it is more susceptible to reopening. Once they leave the hospital and readmit, if the wound is already healed then it can be diagnosed