Report all problems with dressing. You may find it helpful to keep a log that details the progress of pressure ulcer healing. This log can be given to the nurse or healthcare provider at regular intervals so that he/she will have the information needed to prescribe the best treatments for the patient. There are special tools that can be used to monitor the healing of a pressure ulcer.
The NPUAP developed the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing or PUSH tool to monitor the change of pressure ulcer status over time. The tool rates three factors that reflect the degree of healing: length and width of ulcer (score ranges from 0 cm2 through greater than 24.0 cm2), exudate [or drainage] amount (score ranges from none through heavy), and tissue type (score ranges from closed through necrotic [or dead] tissue). The total score is recorded at regular intervals to monitor improvement or deterioration of the pressure ulcer over time. The Pressure Sore Status Tool (PSST) is another tool that might be useful for monitoring pressure ulcer healing.