Application of clinician support tools to improve wound healing outcomes and simplify treatment selection for...

Achievement of moisture balance can be a critical factor affecting time to closure of nonhealing wounds, and dry wounds can take much longer to heal than those with high exudate levels. Whether the goal of management is to donate moisture to the wound or control excessive fluid until the cause has been identified and addressed, choice of dressing and other wound management products can affect nursing resources, clinical outcomes, concordance, and quality of life for the patient.

The cases discussed illustrate differences in management approaches for dry and wet wounds and show how clinician support tools (eg, tissue type, infection/inflammation, moisture imbalance, epithelial edge advancement [TIME] clinical decision support tool) can facilitate treatment decisions. Dressing selection in particular can be challenging given the range of wound types, increasing demands on wound care practitioner time and the requirements necessitated by individualized patient treatment goals. Development of wound management decision tools can help to simplify product selection, and use of patient discussion guides can help to identify patients and caregivers who have the confidence to help implement their wound management plan.

Adopting wound management decision tools has the potential to ease the increasing burden of wound care to health care systems, patients, and society.