Dressing wounds

Dressing wounds
This session introduces you to the concept of using evidence to inform decisions about dressing wounds.

If you are responsible for choosing wound dressings in practice, it is important you have the knowledge and skills to make good decisions about dressing wounds.​

Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes and content of the session have been developed for Level 5 study.

By the end of the session, you should be able to:

• have a broad knowledge of the properties (for example, absorbency, adherence) of dressings and other products, including the difference between types, their modes of action and appropriate use
• discuss the factors that should be considered when making an evidence-based decision on dressing a wound
• discuss the role of wound dressings in relation to other therapeutic interventions for treating wounds
• appraise the key properties of some of the commonly used wound dressings, their modes of action and indications or contraindications for use
• plan and implement appropriate wound dressing strategies using an appropriate decision-making framework that considers the patient's views and preferences
• highlight the importance of referring or escalating to appropriate practitioners and teams when necessary throughout the patient journey

For the purpose of this session, dressings are the products which are applied directly to a wound (primary dressing) and also those which are sometimes applied over a primary dressing to provide additional absorbency or for retention (secondary dressings). We do not discuss compression, skin barrier products, products to reduce scar visibility or more specialist products.

In order to complete the session and get a certificate, you need to complete each chapter and successfully pass the assessment with a minimum score of 80%.