Assessing the future

Awareness of the importance of wound assessment and management appears to be increasing, and centres of excellence are emerging. Nurses have a responsibility to provide effective research-based care for patients, but require knowledge and training to do this. Research-based practice is important, but there is a case for more nurses being involved in research in this area. Nurses realise that, where disagreement in wound management arises between themselves and other professions, one way to overcome this is by demonstrating that they are skilled, proficient and knowledgeable practitioners in wound care. In this way, autonomy may be promoted and nurses can continue to push forward the boundaries of wound management, questioning rituals and promoting innovation. Good documentation is also important and the use of a wound assessment tool may assist in this. The challenge now is for nurses to demand adequate training in order to help them become the skilled, proficient and knowledgeable practitioners they strive to be.