Practising asepsis during dressing changes in community settings.

Abstract

Community nurses often face challenges when going into a patient's home to change a dressing, particularly if the surroundings are likely to be contaminated by multiple strains of bacteria or viruses. For housebound patients, cleaning the house can be an extremely difficult task due to physical or mental illness. They may also experience a large amount of exudate as a result of possibly debilitating painful wounds, for example, leg ulcers, and may be prone to infection as a result of the difficulties posed in keeping a dressing covering a heavily exuding wound in a possibly unclean environment. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that a community nurse or healthcare worker be able to change the wound dressing in the cleanest and most supportive manner. This article covers the most recent guidance and research relevant to the practice of aseptic or clean technique when changing dressings in the community.