Wednesday 12 November 2008

Wound Management

See this is something I can get into! Everyday I get chances to re-assess my patient's wounds and alter the dressings if needed. (I still do it under supervision, those alterations, by the way)

I've seen some right stupid combinations that make you question what the nurse was sniffing when they came up with it.
I've seen:
Wounds you could stick your fist into
Infected surgical incisions
Sinuses that constantly leak
Ulcers that lead all the way down too muscle / tendon / bone
Oh and the occasional not infected, clean, well healing site.

But what happens when the wounds are not so easily dressed? When say they aren't on the outside? When, dare I say it, stray into mental health territory?

The uni's shrink is trying to fix me. We've done this dance before and once before I thought I was healed. But for now there's something missing and I can't fill the gap with panic attacks because it makes me a crap nurse.

3 comments:

Alpine, R.N. said...

for sheer wound-dressing creativity you cannot beat the idea of one of my professors- an old-fashioned woman's garter belt used to clip the edges and hold on a pair of dressings on a traumatic bilateral-amputation above the knee.

WardBunny said...

See that is genius at work! But you don't see many of those every day!

Anonymous said...

(holding down my food)

Wounds and me DO NOT get along.

I'm glad there are nurses like yourself! Otherwise I'd be in trouble.

:)

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