ST. PAUL, Minn. &#151 A recent survey of wound care clinicians showed that selecting the most cost-effective wound dressing and managing exudate are the biggest issues they face when treating a wound. Results offer insight into the biggest issues faced by wound care providers today and how the overall job of wound care may be simplified for clinicians.

Clinicians responded that choosing the appropriate wound care products is important to simplifying care. When considering product choice for optimal wound care, the survey showed:

• Nearly 70 percent of respondents feel that in terms of simplifying the job of wound care, it is extremely important to have compatible products available that work well together


• 34 percent of respondents reported they sometimes find it confusing to choose the right product for a patient


• Nearly 94 percent consider effectiveness to be extremely important when choosing a product


• More than 90 percent of survey respondents felt it was extremely or somewhat important to trust in the company that makes a wound care product they use.

In addition, the survey showed that wound care providers view the availability of cutting-edge products as important. In fact, more than 97 percent feel it is important or extremely important that wound dressings incorporate the latest in wound care technologies and more than 90 percent feel that, generally speaking, it is important or extremely important that wound dressings are based on cutting-edge technology.

“The survey results reinforce that clinicians are looking for better wound care solutions that can make their jobs easier as they strive for optimal patient outcomes,” said Kristen Comstock, marketing manager, 3M Health Care. Which sponsored the survey.

The survey was conducted by HMP Communications, the publisher of “WOUNDS, Ostomy Wound Management and ECPN.”

For more information on 3M products, visit www.3m.com/tegaderm.