What is Wound Assessment?

Wound assessment can be considered to be three things: vital, informed and dynamic. Let’s take an in-depth look at what wound assessment is and why it is important.

Wound assessment is vital: without a thorough wound assessment, you will be unable to formulate a plan of care, gauge the progress of healing and judge whether your current wound care therapy is effective.

Wound assessment is informed: when we perform a wound assessment, we are guided by observation, questioning, physical examination and clinical investigation in order to plan our care of a patient’s wound. We may use tools that have been validated for clinical use to inform us.

Wound assessment is dynamic: wounds are ever-changing. For this reason, wounds must be assessed and reassessed regularly; as the wound changes, whether progressing towards healing or stalled, our plan of care will also change to accommodate changes in the wound.

Need help with your wound assessment skills? The following articles offer practical tips and information regarding the assessment of wounds of all types:

Triangle of Wound Assessment

This article covers all the basics: assessment, diagnosis and management, as well as information on how to identify factors that might delay wound healing in your patient.

Measuring Wounds

This article describes the methods of wound measurement.

Exudate Management Made Easy

Wondering what to do with that wound that is wet and messy? This article discusses exudate management and explains how proper management of exudate improves your patients’ quality of life and promotes healing.

Wound Drainage and Odor

Wounds with a strong or foul odor are unpleasant for both patients and practitioners and can negatively impact on quality of life. This article discusses how to identify the cause of foul odor and take steps to minimize odor, thus improving your patients’ quality of life.

WoundEducators.com is the preeminent source for wound care information. We offer wound care certification courses for practitioners who wish to become certified wound care consultants, or for health care practitioners who simply wish to increase their knowledge of wound care management.

Wound Assessment Blog Posts