What Does a Treatment Nurse Do?

Working as a treatment nurse is a career that primarily involves treating patients' skin wounds that result from trauma, burns or bedsores. To be effective at this job, a person should have excellent interpersonal skills and a compassionate nature. In most cases, a treatment nurse will work at a hospital or nursing home and will work under a supervising nurse. Some of the most fundamental job duties of this position include treating patients' wounds, providing patients with wound care advice, maintaining patient records, interacting with coworkers and a supervisor, and keeping track of inventory.

Treating patients' wounds is usually the primary job duty of a treatment nurse. This can involve cleaning and dressing wounds and placing medicated ointments on them. Performing this action helps to minimize patient discomfort and prevents infections form forming. To be efficient and effective at this task, a treatment nurse must have an in-depth knowledge of treating a variety of wounds and be accustomed to her facility's guidelines. Along with this, it helps for her to have a friendly personality and be able to build rapport with patients.

Along with the initial treatment process, she will usually provide patients with wound aftercare advice as well. This mainly occurs in hospitals where patients will leave the facility after a period of time. A treatment nurse must use her knowledge and expertise to tell patients how to care for wounds upon returning home.

Maintaining patient records is another key job duty of a treatment nurse. To ensure the best possible patient care, she must keep detailed records of patient wound symptoms and medications given. This information will often be transferred between different departments and doctors. To comply with government regulations, she must be sure to keep patient information confidential.

Interacting with both coworkers and a supervisor is also part of this job. Since the field of nursing relies upon efficient communication, it's important for a treatment nurse to relay necessary patient information to the relevant individuals. For example, she may discuss a patient's progress, preferences and any other pertinent information. Along with this, she may also need to convey a patient's status to family members. This practice helps to provide quality care for patients and addresses unique patient needs.

Additionally, a treatment nurse will often be responsible for keeping track of inventory. This can include items like bandages, gauze, disinfecting ointments and any other skin care supplies. When items are running low, it's up to her to reorder supplies so that her department is always stocked.