Question

The nurse just completed a dressing change and returned the client to a comfortable position. what should the nurse do next?

Answer 1

Document the color, odor, amount, and type of wound drainage.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should document everything that occurs with the patient's wound, even if there is no change in the wound. This documentation allows a follow-up of the patient's healing process. If the patient's wound is not healing well, it is possible to seek another treatment, based on the information contained in the nursing team's documentation.

For this reason, after changing the dressing and making the patient comfortable, the nurse should document the color, odor, amount, and type of wound drainage.

Answer 2

In this case, the dressing is changes and the client is returned to a comfortable position. During the dressing, the nurse must have observed the characteristics of the wound. So, once the patient is returned to a comfortable position, the nurse can write the characteristics of the wound in the documents.

Hence, after the dressing is complete, the nurse should note down the details of the wound, which must include its color, presence or absence of odor, and the type wound drainage (if any).