Handwashing
When should you wash your hands?
After bathroom, before and after eating/preparing food, after blowing your nose, after touching garbage, before cleaning your wound.
Why is it important to close a wound with a dressing?
So that wound can start healing and cells in your body can come to the wound to do their job (form new tissue, blood clotting to stop bleeding, clean the wound and make new blood vessels).
What days do AHS nurses come to do woundcare?
Mondays and Thursdays from 9am until 1pm
What helps healing more, a dry or a moist wound?
Moist wound, a dry wound can lead to tissue death
What does a pink wound with no odor mean
The tissue is alive so put clean water and clean bandage or dressing on
How long should you wash your hands for?
at least 20 seconds, or sing happy birthday twice
Why is it important to keep a new wound covered?
Because a covered wound keeps oxygen low which helps kill bacteria and decreases dryness (you want a wet wound)
When your wound is this colour you should go to the AHS nurses or the hospital?
1. White or yellow and smelly (sign of infection)
2. Black
Where are areas of the shelter to access clean water for wounds?
The sink in program facilitation, the bathrooms, when showering
What does a yellow and smelly wound mean
The wound could be infected, see the AHS nurses who come on Mondays and Thursdays, hospital visit may be necessary.
What does handwashing help reduce?
The spread of germs
Benefits of Tegaderm
flexible to cover small and large wounds, you can see how your wound is doing in terms of healing, prevents skin breakdown, keeps moisture in your wound to help with healing
Why is having too much moisture around your wound a problem?
Can damage tissue if the healthy skin around your wound is also wet, because if that skin is always wet it can cause irritation which damages the wound.
How should fresh wounds be cleaned?
Fresh wounds can be cleaned with tap water or saline (salt and water) mixture (pink bullets)
How often should you change your bandage/dressing?
Each day, or whenever it becomes dirty or as soon as a new dressing/bandage becomes available to you.
What is the risk of not washing your hands before treating a wound?
Wound could become infected with outside germs
When should you use a 4x4 gauze
When you have an open wound apply on top of the wound after cleansing it and cover with the Tegaderm
Who can be with you at the hospital to help support you, so you are not alone?
Ask Shelter staff to contact the Indigenous Hospital Support Services
Ask case managers to get in contact with peer support services
What can pouring alcohol or hydrogen peroxide do to a wound?
It can damage tissue which can make your wound worse
Where can you find supplies for wound care?
The bin room, shelter staff
How can you properly dry your hands?
Paper towels, if there are no paper towels then shake hands over sink to air dry
Why should saline solutions be used?
Cleanses wounds
Removes dead skin cells and debris
The 0.9% salt provides antibacterial effects.
Signs of infection
Redness, Heat, Pain, Swelling, Pus, Odour, Poor healing, Fever
What are some ways to keep a wound moist (but not too moist)
Clean water
Saline (water and salt)
Vaseline (if you have access to it)
Finally, pat around the wound so that only the wound itself is moist, because a lot of moisture can lead to tissue damage
What does it mean when your wound is black?
Dead tissue, a hospital visit may be required to remove this tissue