Nutrition: a critical component of wound healing.

Nutrients are essential to wound healing and patients in critical care are often at risk for lack of sufficient nutrients that may result in impaired healing. Understanding the role of the various nutrients in healing provides the basis for assessment and therapy. Use of a practical and consistent nutritional assessment technique is an important part of care for critically ill patients with wounds. The health care team must provide care based on current knowledge of the effects of nutrition on wound healing and work collaboratively in doing nutritional assessment and providing nutritional support to optimize wound healing outcomes.