Education is a key component when adding new nurses to your wound clinic. Getting these nurses up to speed fast is important for the flow of the clinic and the success of the new employee. There are four interconnecting approaches to wound management education including, literature, classroom, Internet, and one to one nurse interaction. Typically, the first weeks of education involves reading and hands on practice.
I find that it is best not to overwhelm the new nurse in the first week, so I usually send them home with easy reading. My favorite easy reading book for new nurses and students is Wound Care Made Incredibly Visual by Springhouse publishing. This book has very simple content and provides great graphics to enforce the written content.
Before the new nurse starts working with patients I recommend a two or three day (hands on) practicum. Ask representatives from companies that you use to assist you in this process. Consider topics such as how to take photos, how to assess the patient, review charge sheets, general product review, compression bandaging, negative pressure wound therapy, orthopedics, Apligraf, Dermagraft, total contact casts, and special wound products such as Mist therapy.
The next blog in this series will discuss approaches to wound care education with Internet websites.

Matthew Livingston, R.N., B.S.N., C.W.S., A.C.H.R.N is author of the Scottsdale Wound Management Guide, HMP Communications. Contributor to Today’s Wound Clinic and HMP Communications. Experience as an inpatient and outpatient wound management nurse (including hyperbarics) in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Designs web-based wound education including woundblog.com.