The importance of wound documentation and classification

Good wound documentation has become increasingly important over the last 10 years. Wound assessment provides a baseline situation against which a patient's plan of care can be evaluated. A number of documents have been implemented including the 'Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors' (UKCC, 1992), the 'Post-registration Education Project' (UKCC, 1997), 'Standards of Records and Record Keeping' (UKCC, 1998), and 'Keeping the Record Straight' (NHS Executive (NHS E), 1993). These documents require nurses to maintain their professional knowledge and competence, and to recognize any deficiency in their knowledge. Having recognized any deficiency they should read the relevant literature and/or attend a study day on wound care. Nursing records are the first source of evidence investigated when a complaint is made. Wound assessment is very complex and a standardized approach to evaluation needs to be adopted. Such evaluation should encompass colour classification, wound measurement, and classification of tissue type present in the wound. There are numerous methods of measuring wounds; these range from the simple, such as manual estimation by means of a ruler or wound tracing, to the more technical procedures, e.g. computer, image analysis, and colour imaging using hue saturation and intensity. Photography, in conjunction with nursing notes, provides a very good form of wound documentation and can provide clear evidence if required for legal cases.