Introduction: Managing chronic wounds is a large part of a nurse’s role. However, this complex mission requires nursing professionals to have a wide knowledge base.
Objective of the study: The objective is to undertake a comparative review of pedagogical practices used to teach nursing students about chronic wounds in French nursing training institutes (compared to nursing training institutes in Lorraine).
Method: A survey was carried out using a self-administered online questionnaire disseminated via the national nursing training network Cefiec, between February and April 2018. It contained 21 questions.
Main results: 34.8% of nursing training institutes have a teacher with a university diploma in wounds and healing. Only 30.4% offer hospital-based clinical teaching on this topic. In Lorraine, 40% of nursing training institutes cover the preparation of the wound bed using the TIME model, and 20% cover debridement, compared to 40% and 7.5% nationally.
Discussion: Teaching content varies greatly depending on the training institute, and shows that there is a theoretical and practical deficiency in teaching on topics including preparing the wound bed, debridement, and venous compression. Collaboration with expert nurses and referral hospitals is common. Teachers still do not have sufficient access to continuing training and scientific journals.