10/12/2025
The Value of a Moist Wound Environment: A Call for Educational Integration of Wound Management in Medical-Surgical and Community Health Nursing
For decades, nursing students (including myself) were taught dry wound healing methodologies. This directly contradicted the groundbreaking findings of Dr. George Winter in the 1960s, which demonstrated that a moist environment significantly accelerates epithelialization. While the mass adoption of this principle boomed in the 80s and 90s, it seems our healthcare system remains stuck in the past, clinging to practices that were merely feasible at the time rather than those proven effective.
Even with the advent of advanced dressings, the system still embraces "wet-to-dry" dressing as the supreme standard for wound management. Similarly, povidone-iodine is treated as a superhero and jack-of-all-trades for every wound, chronic or acute. I am not vilifying povidone-iodine—it has its place—but through evidence-based practice, we must place it correctly according to a thorough assessment, which is an integral part of the nursing process.
Our own reference textbooks, like the 15th edition of Brunner and Suddarth, already lay down this foundational knowledge. However, this critical portion seems unfamiliar and neglected, like a "ghost flood control project" we see in today's headlines: infrastructure exists on paper, but is not functional in reality.
There are many wound types to teach, but the basic, evidence-based concept of moist wound healing must be integrated into our BSN curriculum. When students graduate and become RNs, the instillation of this concept will provide a vital foundation for their professional practice—and their personal lives as well.
I cannot single-handedly change all the requests of our nursing school. But next year, I will take action. I will train a few who can initiate this change, ensuring the next generation of RNs is knowledgeable according to evidence-based practice and a Filipino-contextualized approach to wound management.
We must balance the equation to ensure that few, if any, diabetic foot ulcers or bedsores ay hindi MAIIWANAN.
Picture from Calamba Doctors' College - College of Nursing