What is a Wound Care Nurse?
A wound care nurse is a nurse who specializes in wound management. Wound care nurses work with a patient’s medical team to monitor a variety of wounds and their healing process, and they also care directly for the patient, promoting healthy and rapid healing of a wide variety of wounds. The minimum qualification for work in this nursing specialty is a nursing certification, but most wound care nurses pursue additional board certification from a professional organization to make themselves more employable. Chronic wounds such as bedsores, ulcers, and abscesses are often an important part of wound care nursing. Wound care nurses can also care for ostomy sites, as well as the areas around feeding tubes, ports, and recent surgeries. Most work in a hospital setting, treating patients who require acute care, although some travel as home health consultants, or work in nursing homes and other residential facilities.
