Caring for Wounds, Big and Small

By Frances T. Traver
Clinical Manager

Most of us have cared for some type of wound. You cut your finger, wash it out and put on a Band Aid. However, when you’ve been hospitalized or injured the wounds may be much more complicated and frightening. Despite the size or type of wound, the principles to healing wounds are the same.
There are many different types of wounds. You may have had surgery and need to care for the incision. You may have been bedridden for awhile and had a sore as a result of pressure. You may have burned your hand. All these wounds need some type of care to heal. Whatever the care, the wound needs to be protected from trauma or infection. Your doctor and/or nurse will direct you as to which treatment is best for your wound.
There is a saying that a wound is not a hole in the patient but rather the whole of the patient makes the wound. Your overall condition plays a big role in the healing of any wound. If you have chronic disease, such as diabetes, it will take longer for your wound to heal. A proper diet is important in healing a wound. Certain medications may also slow the healing process of a wound. Your nurse can help you understand your individual condition and discuss how it may be affecting your wound healing.
Here at Saint Francis Hospital, Home Care Services (Certified), Inc. we are blessed to have Helen Bunyi, RN, one of the best wound care nurses working with us. She has recently been recognized as the New York State Nursing Association’s District 19 Clinician of the Year and was honored for nursing excellence by our hospital. But more importantly, our patient’s are always grateful to her. She always seems to know how to heal that wound which just won’t heal.
So don’t be afraid of your wound, there are people to help. You doctor will give you the treatment to best help heal your wound. You need to help heal your wound with good nutrition and chronic disease management.