Practical Wound Dressings for Long-Term Care: A Practical Decision Guide for Nurses and Wound Teams

Practical Wound Dressings for Long-Term Care: A Simple, Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians and Nursing Staff By Mikhail Novikov, MD, Jennifer Hilgenberg PA-C, Briana Jackson PA-C, Kimberly Noe PA-C, Carolyn Moran RN, and Liz Nolan

Wound care in long-term care facilities is not complicated - but it is unforgiving. The wrong dressing, a missed assessment, or a documentation gap can stall healing, trigger a survey deficiency, or turn a manageable wound into a crisis. This book was written to prevent exactly that.

Practical Wound Dressings for Long-Term Care is a hands-on clinical reference for nurses, physician assistants, and bedside clinicians who assess and manage wounds in skilled nursing and long-term care settings. Drawing on decades of real-world practice across dozens of facilities, Dr. Mikhail Novikov and his team distill complex wound science into clear, actionable guidance that works at the bedside.

What You'll Find Inside

Across 17 comprehensive chapters, this guide covers every essential dimension of LTC wound care:

• The biology of healing - a practical review of wound healing phases and why wounds stall
• Dressing selection - a full toolkit covering foams, hydrocolloids, alginates, silicones, antimicrobials, and advanced dressings, with clear guidance on when to use each
• Wound-type management - dedicated chapters on pressure injuries, venous/arterial/lymphedema ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, MASD, and skin tears
• Infection and biofilm - recognizing the hidden reasons wounds stop healing
• Debridement - what to remove, what to leave, and why it matters
• Nutrition - how to support the repair process and which deficiencies to watch for
• Advanced therapies - collagen, NPWT, and emerging options
• Documentation - how to write a complete, defensible clinical record
• Survey readiness - what CMS surveyors look for and how to stay prepared
• Special populations - palliative wound care, bariatric patients, and cognitively impaired residents
• Team communication and clinical reasoning - seeing the whole patient, not just the wound

Every chapter opens with a real-world bedside scenario and includes practical frameworks your team can use immediately. A full glossary of wound dressing terminology is included for quick reference.

Who This Book Is For

This guide is written for RNs, LPNs, physician assistants, and wound care coordinators in skilled nursing and post-acute settings. It is also an ideal resource for Directors of Nursing and clinical educators looking to standardize wound care practices and improve outcomes.

Why This Book

Dr. Novikov's wound care program serves over 40 long-term care facilities across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with healing rates consistently above industry benchmarks and a hospital readmission rate below 1% - compared to a national average of nearly 25%. The clinical philosophy behind those results is now in one practical guide.

Whether you are new to wound care or an experienced clinician looking to sharpen your practice, Practical Wound Dressings for Long-Term Care gives you the foundation, the frameworks, and the confidence to make better decisions at the bedside - every time.