Dressing A Medical Assistant

A Medical Assistant is such a wonderful career, you get so many opportunities and chances to show off all that you know. Medical Assistants are responsible for recording medical histories, preparing patients for exams, doing vital signs, and performing other clinical and administrative activities. Many things that are required of you are hands on, not just paper work you do behind a desk on a computer. There are tons of jobs a Medical Assistant is responsible for but one of the most interesting clinical things to do in the medical office, to me, is a sterile dressing change.
In order to carry out a sterile wound dressing you must be constantly thinking about staying clean. First, always greet and identify the patient in order to make sure
There are three specific kinds of wound drainage. First is serous exudate, this is where the drainage consists of serum, a clear portion of the blood, it's clear and watery. An example of a serous exudate would be a fluid blister from a burn. Sanguineous exudate consists of red blood cells making it red in color. This occurs because capillaries are damaged, allowing the escape of red blood cells. According to how bright or dark the red is determines how old the blood is, the darker the blood is, the older it is. And finally, purulent exudate contains pus which consists of dead liquefied tissue debris, called leukocytes, and dead and living bacteria. This exudate is usually thick, has an unpleasant odor, and is white in color but can acquire tinges of pink, green, or yellow depending on the type of infecting organism. "Not only do doctors pay attention to the color and consistency of the wound, but the amount of actual drainage is just as vital in diagnosing issues," (Common Types of Wound Drainage). Far below twenty five percent of saturation, where the dressing is only slightly wet, is called scant drainage. No more than twenty five percent of saturation, where the dressing is mostly damp is minimal drainage. Anything between twenty five and seventy five percent is moderate drainage, but anything higher than seventy five percent is the most severe level called the copious
Phase one is a three to four day process, this is called the inflammation phase. Fibrin network forms, causing a blood clot to then turn into a scab. The inflammation process then starts because this is the protective response the body has to the trauma. White blood cells and nutrients are brought to the site to assist. Signs of the inflammation phase is redness, swelling, pain, and warmth. This process is meant to destroy any microorganisms and to remove damaged tissue debris from the wound to allow healing. Phase two of the healing process is the granulation phase, lasting four to twenty days. This is where fibroblasts migrate to the wound site and begin to synthesize collagen to help provide strength. More collagen to the would the stronger it becomes. Then new capillaries start to grow giving the damaged tissue a good supply of blood. This phase causes the wound to be fragile, shiny, and susceptible to bleeding. And then the final phase is maturation phase. This phase starts as soon as the granulations phase ends and can last for two years. Collagen continues to be synthesized and the granulation tissue eventually hardens to a white scar tissue. This scar tissue is not normal skin, it doesn't contain nerves or a blood supply. Once you reach this point, that is the end of the healing process and your wound has been completely healed by