Wound Cleansing and Debridement

Course Overview

This Course is designed for any health professional who manages people requiring a wound dressing.

Topics

• Wound aetiology
• Tissue identification
• Patient and wound-related factors that will impact on wound cleansing
• Common solutions used for wound cleansing
• Demonstration of techniques, products and equipment

Need

Wound cleansing aims to remove excess exudate, dressing remnants and non-viable tissue from the wound to promote healing and reduce infection risk. The various types of debridement are forms of wound cleansing. Whilst health professionals are familiar with the ritual of wound cleansing, many may lack the skills and confidence to effectively cleanse wounds.

Whilst there is a focus on the products and solutions suitable for wound cleansing, there is a lack of practical guidance on how to actually cleanse wounds. Utilising the appropriate processes for wound cleansing will benefit patients and is as important as wound dressing product selection.

Purpose

The purpose of this Course is to enhance knowledge, skills and confidence with regards to effective wound cleansing and debridement.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the assessment components necessary prior to wound cleansing
• Identify the techniques and solutions that can be used for wound cleansing and debridement and their clinical indications
• Explain how to effectively cleanse and debride wounds

Target Audience

This Course is relevant to all registered nurses and other health professionals working in a variety of health care settings who deal with wounds and wound care on a regular basis.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educator

Sue Templeton

Sue works as a community-based nurse practitioner: wound management in Adelaide. Sue has worked in wound management since 1987 and has extensive clinical experience managing persons with a variety of acute and chronic wounds. Sue provides clinical consultancy services, develops and delivers wound management education and is involved in the development of wound management tools, policies and procedures. Sue has been actively involved in the wound management professional body at a national and local level for a number of years. Sue has undertaken clinical research and published and presented locally, nationally and internationally. Sue has been involved in the development of several national and international guidelines and is active on several state and national committees. Sue is passionate about improving the life of persons with a wound and empowering others to deliver best practice in wound management. See Educator Profile