• To refresh your knowledge of the causes and risk factors associated with hard-to-heal wounds
• To enhance your understanding of the elements of a holistic wound assessment
• To consider how you could apply a wound assessment tool in your practice
A thorough, holistic wound assessment is essential to identify the aetiology of a hard-to-heal wound and formulate a diagnosis, which will underpin the treatment plan. This article describes the fundamental elements of assessing a patient with a hard-to-heal wound holistically, including taking a patient history, performing a clinical examination and investigations, and considering the patient’s physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs. The author also outlines the aspects of the TIMERS (tissue, infection/inflammation, moisture, edge, regeneration and social factors) wound assessment tool in detail, and explains some of the challenges associated with accurately assessing a wound.
Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12224
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Meagher H (2024) Undertaking a structured assessment of a hard-to-heal wound. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12224
Published online: 27 August 2024
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