Wounds occur for a variety of different reasons. It is important to correctly identify the wound etiology, understand the phases of wound healing and recognize key events that occur within each phase of healing. Practitioners must also differentiate correctable factors that impact healing from those factors that cannot be corrected Identifying goals for wound management are also helpful to the wound plan of care. Medications have a valuable role in controlling factors that contribute to poor wound healing such as hyperglycemia, infection, edema and exudate. Evidence-based use of appetite stimulants and growth hormone derivatives will also be discussed. Nutrition optimization through oral supplements, vitamin and mineral supplementation and new medical nutrition therapy for the future will be reviewed.

Objectives
1. Acknowledge the complexities of wound healing and recognize clinical factors (nutritional and non-nutritional ) that impact healing
2. Discuss pharmacological interventions used in the wound healing plan of care
3. Select and implement evidence based nutrition interventions to facilitate wound healing