How to clean a wound and change a dressing
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.
Each dressing change is also an assessment. Describe the wound the same way every time so changes are clear.
Step by step
Prepare
Check the order, give pain relief if needed, clean your hands, introduce yourself, confirm the patient and get consent. [1]
Remove the old dressing
Clean gloves. Peel toward the wound and look at the drainage on it. Discard, remove gloves, clean your hands. [1]
Assess the wound
Location, size in cm (length, width, depth), wound bed (red, yellow, black), drainage type and amount, odor, edges and surrounding skin. [1]
Look for infection
Spreading redness, warmth, swelling, pus, new pain or fever. [1]
Clean
New gloves. Normal saline from the cleanest area to the dirtiest; for an incision, along the line, then beside it. [1]
New dressing
Keep the wound bed moist and the skin around it dry. Date and initial the dressing. [1]
Record
Write the description and report signs of infection. [1]
Common errors
- Cleaning from dirty to clean.
- Not measuring the wound.
- Using the same gloves to remove the old dressing and apply the new one.
Practice it in VMS
In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
VMS cases that train this skill
Sources
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.