Optimizing wound healing. A practice within nursing's domain.

Clinicians could be overwhelmed with all that needs to be done to advance the clinical care of tissue wounds. This is not the time to be discouraged, however. Perhaps there has been no period in the history of health care when the possibility of influencing future trends in wound care was greater. Generally speaking, nurses are increasing their understanding of their place in healing activities and are involved in tending wounds that demand greater direct care. Simultaneously, some manufacturers of wound care products seek the input of clinicians as they attempt to produce sound and usable products. Articles appear that delimit scientifically based approaches to wound care and debunk those based solely on tradition. Levine reminded us that "perhaps no worker can influence the success of the healing process more than the nurse." I encourage the readers of this article to take Levine's statement to heart, to latch onto the current momentum, and to force the next decade in health care to be referred to not as the "era of the wound" but rather as the "era of healing."