To prepare:
Review the information in Figure 6-2 in Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of
Knowledge.
Develop a clinical question related to your area of practice that you would like to explore.
(Please use the topic above for clinical question)
Consider what you currently know about this topic. What additional information would
you need to answer the question?
Using the continuum of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom, determine how you
would go about researching your question.
Explore the available databases in the Walden Library. Identify which of these databases
you would use to find the information or data you need.
Once you have identified useful databases, how would you go about finding the most
relevant articles and information?
Consider how you would extract the relevant information from the articles.
How would you take the information and organize it in a way that was useful? How could
you take the step from simply having useful knowledge to gaining wisdom?
To complete:
Write a 3- to 4-page paper that addresses the following:
Summarize the question you developed, and then relate how you would work through the
four steps of the data, information, knowledge, wisdom continuum. Be specific.
Identify the databases and search words you would use.
Relate how you would take the information gleaned and turn it into useable knowledge.
Can informatics be used to gain wisdom? Describe how you would progress from simply
having useful knowledge to the wisdom to make decisions about the information you have
found during your database search.
Your paper must also include a title page, an introduction, a summary, and a reference
page.
The importance of nutrition in wound healing
Introduction
Nutrition is fundamental in ensuring that the wound heals quickly. Nutritional
requirements increase during a trauma and a surgery or even if the individual has a chronic
wound. This therefore, requires individuals to eat food rich in nutrition to cover the deficit. Even
though this is a fact, many of the health practitioners do not factor this when providing treatment
to their patients. Therefore, it is advisable that any individual suffering or nursing a wound to eat
food rich in nutrients. This discussion therefore, provides a summary of why nutrition is
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 2
important in healing a wound and provides how the data, information, knowledge and wisdom
continuum is applied in ensuring that patients are provided with appropriate medical care.
Summary
In patient assessment, medical practitioners are required to advise on the nutritional
intake when dealing with patients nursing wounds. Many of them forget this important
consideration. People nursing wound have increased level of metabolism and this calls for
additional intake of nutritional to help in the healing of the wound as the activities of cell
increases (Casey, 1998). The process of wound healing involves division of cells and migration
of fibroblasts, macrophages and endothelial cells that brings in new blood vessels and epithelial
cells that surrounds the tissues (Gray & Cooper, 2001). During the process of wound healing,
fibroblasts cells synthesize and secret proteins, that forms scar tissues while the macrophages
cells secret the growth factors that direct the action or activity that initiates the healing of the
wounds (Casey, 1998). These process or activities require extra nutrition. Some of the key
sources of nutritional are carbohydrates, proteins, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin A, B, and iron.
Carbohydrates include food such as bread, wheat, flour among others. These foods provide the
body with ATP for all cellular activity. Zinc is a mineral found in the numerous enzyme systems
in the cells. Its source includes offal, nuts and red meat among many others. It helps in protein
synthesis and in strengthening and maturation of the collagen. Vitamin C includes citrus fruits,
fruit juices, green vegetables, tomatoes among others. It also plays an important role in collagen
synthesis and in providing immune system to the body. Iron is derived from eating leafy green
vegetables, red meat, fortified breakfast cereals and is used in delivery of oxygen to wound bed
(Casey, 1998). Vitamins A and B play a role of maturation and strengthening of collagen while
proteins are derived from such foods such as meat, fish, beans and pulses, dairy products, soya
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 3
products and helps to provide immune system responses, synthesis and secretion of growth
factors among other roles (Charalambous, 1993). Therefore, their nutritional are essential and
any person with wound is required to have them to enhance the process of wound healing
Key terms: wound healing, nutritional requirements for healing wounds. Cell division,
protein synthesis
The four steps of data, information, and knowledge and wisdom continuum are essential
in provision of better medical services to the patients. Data is the baseline information that is
received from an interview or physical assessment of patient (American Nurses Association
2008). Such data pertains to the history of the illness and the body reactions. It is important for
the medical practitioners to get this information from the patients to understand the problem. For
instance, a medical practitioner will assess a patient with a wound through physical assessment
and enquiring about the dates when the patient got the wound. Information is the interpreted
records about the data and this therefore provides a ground for the medical practitioner as it
motivates and enables him to plan on the appropriate step of action. The medical practitioner
uses the information recorded to plan on how to handle a health problem. Knowledge is the
organized information that the medical practitioners support his/her decision. From the
information, the medical practitioners then borrow from his or her information or skills to
provide a solution. Wisdom is that idea for thought that one can share with others and it requires
use of mind, ethical personal and cultural aspects of our life (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012).
Therefore, for medical practitioners, they accumulate wisdom through experience, their personal
skills or by observing ethical standards in ensuring that they provide appropriate decisions
especially in provision of medical services.
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 4
Additional information to answer the question
Since I understand that wound healing requires good nutrition, additional information
that I will need to provide answers to the question concerns the kinds of foods that are required
and their quantity. Furthermore, I will require more information from various studies and
researches findings on other ways to ensure that the wounds heal quickly such as medications.
How to research using the continuum of data, information, knowledge and wisdom
I will research about the question by obtaining data through interviewers. This data will
be obtained from professionals in medical field. Information about healing wounds will be
retrieved from various journals and books. This information will be further obtained from
magazines and health professionals. Knowledge is attained through experience and exposure to
information. I will therefore use the knowledge that I have amassed over the years in nursing
wound and will relay on knowledge of various professionals through their research findings. I
will employ wisdom to ensure that I get the appropriate information from the various sources.
For instance, I will use appropriate strategies to get information from different professionals and
people. One of the strategies is to behave the way they do and accept their norms, and beliefs.
Database used to get information
Various databases provide information about how to nurse wounds and other health
concerns. To answer these questions, I used different databases, which includes science direct,
ebscohost, psychology, emerald among many others.
How information gleaned will be turned into useable knowledge
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 5
I will turn information gleaned into useable knowledge if the information is testable,
verified credible and true. For instance, in a case where a patient I diagnose with a certain
unknown disease, I will carry out a research to find out the conditions for the information to be
used in future and to form part of knowledge. I will safeguard the same information to be used
by others in their practice, which will serve as a source of knowledge to them.
Using informatics to gain wisdom
To have knowledge, you must be exposed to information or situations that helps or
accumulates level of knowledge. Therefore, informatics are used to gain knowledge but are not
directly linked to wisdom. For an individual to have wisdom, that individual requires to have
knowledge acquired through information. Therefore, I will be able to use information gained
throughout my experience to make appropriate decisions. To have knowledge I will get exposed
to different sources of information obtained from various sources such as books, personal
interactions, experiences and so forth. Then from that knowledge, I will have wisdom. Because
most of the decision requires application or use of cultural, ethical considerations and personal
opinions sharpened through the level of knowledge that I have, this wisdom, will enable me to
make appropriate decisions about the database required to enable me successfully complete this
task. For instance, I will have to use credible sources of information from the database to ensure
that I successfully complete and meet the requirements of this question.
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 6
References
American Nurses Association. (2008).Nursing Informatics: Scope and standards of practice.
Silver Spring, MD: Author (3-15).
Casey, G. (1998). The importance of nutrition in wound healing. Nursing standards, 13(3):51-
56.
Charalambous, E. (1993). A healthy approach, Nursing Times. 89, 20, 61-62.
Gray, D., & Cooper, P. (2001). Nutrition and Wound healing: what is the link? Journal of
Wound Care, 10(3): 86-89
THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN WOUND HEALING 7
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2012). Nursing Informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(2nd ed.)Burlington, MA: Jones & Barlett Learning. Chapter 6, Overview of Nursing
informatics