Why wounds fail to heal

Over the last ten to 15 years wound care has increasingly become the domain of the nurse – so much so that many general practitioners profess ignorance of wound management and dressings and leave decision-making entirely to the nursing staff. Many practice and district nurses take an active and professional interest in wound management, keeping themselves up-to-date by attending conferences and reading the literature. However, this is not always the case and there is a wide diversity of expertise among nursing professionals. Even where nurses are well informed, they still frequently feel they need more support from their medical colleagues. In this issue we begin a twopart series on wound care, starting with why wounds fail to heal.