Digitized images of wounds: a nursing practice innovation

Although clinical photography is not new, the incorporation of digital wound images into computerized patient records is an innovation recently developed in nursing practice. At the Washington, DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Washington DC VAMC), a nurse imaging program is being developed through a unique partnership between a clinical nurse specialist and a nurse informaticist. Digitized images are stored as parts of the ViastA computerized patient record system, making them immediately available throughout the entire medical center, on more than 1500 computers in the clinical environment. Any patient condition that can be represented visually, for example, pressure ulcers, which are the most frequently imaged, can be placed into the medical record. The major benefit of this nurse imaging program is that the status of wound healing can be tracked visually over time, from acute care to the clinic setting, and to the home. Progression from the problem, as originally defined, through the innovation process, and a statement of future plans are presented in the article.