title: Outpatient wound care.
abstract: As patients are discharged from the acute care setting to the home care setting at a much earlier time in their recovery, surgical wound care will be delivered by patients, family members, and home health care providers rather than by the hospital nurse in a traditional in-patient setting. This trend, which began in the mid-1980s, is expanding to include not just surgical wounds but also surgical complications such as wound dehiscence and traumatic wounds healing by secondary intention. Intensive care nurses are involved in discharge planning from the time the patient is admitted to the ICU. Early planning and teaching regarding wound care, universal precautions, and medical waste disposal have become a vital component of preparing the patient for optimal continuity of care as the transition is made into the community.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kravitz
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D014945:Wound Healing; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*