How to Drive a Consultant Crazy
If you want to drive a consultant crazy, be inconsistent in your wound care documentation. Document conflicting sizes, wounds that mysteriously migrate from the left buttock to the right and stage wounds according to stage of the moon as opposed to the degree of tissue involvement. That will do it. I promise.
But it seems that there are going to be even more reasons to improve your assessment and documentation of wounds even if you don’t care about the mental health of your consultant. The OASIS-C Integumentary Status is far more specific than the dataset we are currently using. It goes so far as to require actual measurements of all things. It also investigates wounds that develop while the patient is under your care and could conceivably hold you accountable. Epithelialization of wounds will be a key factor. Do all of your nurses recognize granulation and epithelization? Are they able to chart it accordingly?
Without these skills, your OASIS data will be useless at best and at worst, your outcomes will make you stand out like a pariah in the regulatory and referral worlds.
Wound assessment and documentation is an investment all home health care agencies should make now. We do not offer classes on Wound Care but there are many available. A good place to start is with your wound care supply vendor. Often companies who sell wound care products offer inservices to their clients at no cost. The WOCN might be a place to look for wound care classes. If you know of any really good sources, please write about them in the comments section so that everyone can be aware.
All nurses should be taught how to assess and document wound status. Registered Nurses should be taught the intricacies of staging and how to determine the level of healing. Don’t bother wait. This is something you can do now!
OASIS-C training will be held at our Education on November 12 and 19. Please contact us for more information or for questions about this or any blog post at haydelconsultingservices@bellsouth.net.
