Editorial Message: Turning Wounds into Wisdom

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ~ Oprah Winfrey Dear Readers,   When I first read the above statement, I did not think much about it. I understood Ms. Winfrey was referring to facing the challenges in life that “wound” us and learning from those experiences. The more I thought about the statement, however, the more I realized it could apply directly to wound care providers, and that it reflected something I was taught years ago. You and I see many wounds each day, week, and month. We use our knowledge to evaluate the current status of the wound and use that information to make an informed decision about treatment. That is what we are supposed to do, right? Have you ever looked at a wound and wondered what you could learn from it? Have you ever noted something in or about a wound that caused you to ask a colleague a question, or to look on the internet for additional information? I was taught by a friend and mentor, Dr. Morris Kerstein, that some of our greatest opportunities to learn about wounds can come from the wounds themselves, if we will only take the time to notice and learn.   Noting that a wound is heavily draining is not an uncommon observation. Usually this observation leads us to choose one dressing over another to manage the drainage or to do some test to try to identify a correctable cause of the drainage. Have you ever considered seeing if there is more information about the cause of the draining wound and how to manage it? For instance, the World Union of Wound Healing Societies published Wound Exudate and The Role of Dressings: A Consensus Document, which provides a great overview of the draining wound and how to approach it.¹ It is amazing what can be learned by simply investigating what we see when we look at a wound. Have you ever looked at a wound and noted that it just did not look “right,” or maybe it wasn’t responding to the treatment as expected? That, of course, is an indication to biopsy the wound.² If the biopsy showed it was an unusual type of wound, did you take the time to find out more about it and how it should be treated? These are great opportunities to learn from looking at a wound. The wound care community recently lost one of our preeminent wound care predecessors, Dr. Morris Kerstein. (See Dr. Laura Bolton’s tribute on page A13.) Dr. Kerstein was a well-known surgeon who spent much of his career devising ways to provide better care for our military. He was one of the early proponents of moist wound healing when everyone else was still trying to dry wounds.3 I was honored to spend time with Dr. Kerstein and learn much about wound care from him. One concept he emphasized to me on many occasions—never miss an opportunity to learn from a patient or a patient’s wound. Through the years I have tried to apply what he taught and have learned many important lessons about wounds. I can think of no greater tribute to his memory than to continue practicing his teaching of learning from the patients and wounds we see. The next wound you see, think of Dr. Kerstein, but more importantly, see what you can learn about the patient and the wound that will give you a better understanding of wounds and wound healing in general. Let’s turn our wounds into wisdom.

References

1. World Union of Wound Healing Societies. Principles of Best Practice: Wound exudate and the role of dressings: a consensus document. London: Medical Education Partnership, Ltd; 2007. 2. Treadwell T. The when, where, and how of biopsies. AAWC Network Newsletter. 2010; Winter/Spring:10-11. www.hmp-aawc/enews/2010-WinterSpring-LR.pdf 3. Field FK, Kerstein MD. Overview of wound healing in a moist environment. Am J Surg. 1994;167(suppl 1A):2S-6S.