Teaching wound care in the home

Abstract

A survey of Medicare-certified agencies in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington identified wound care and teaching wound care as being among the highest ranked clinical problems related to earlier hospital discharges that have resulted from Medicare Diagnostic Related Groupings (DRGs). Home care nurses are treating increasingly complex wounds and are required to teach complex wound care skills to clients and caregivers. This paper provides guidelines and resources to home care nurses for teaching wound care to their elderly clients and caregivers. The process of developing and implementing a teaching plan is described through the use of the community health nursing process. Following the presentation of the process content, a sample teaching wound care plan and sample teaching handouts are presented with a list of available teaching resources about wound care.