The purpose of this study was to examine the skills of health personnel in chronic wounds treatment. The thesis was carried out as a quantitative survey to the ward nursing staff in one of the Finnish health centers. The goal was the development of chronic wound care.

In a wound, the skin or tissues under it are damaged and the wound is caused by either an external or internal factor of the disease. In a chronic wound healing is disturbed. It is essential to define a goal of the treatment in the wound care. There is a variation in the wound care methods between the organizations. Practices should however be in alignment and there should be more training in wound care so that it can be improved.

The survey was carried out to the wards´ nursing staff (n=37) with an electric study form issued to this examination with the help of the Webropol program. An e-mail containing a cover letter and a link to the study was sent to the participants by the department nurse who also worked as a working life contact person in this thesis. 26 people responded to the survey (n=26), so the response rate was 70. The answers were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) statistical program. The method of quantification of the text material was used to analyze the open questions. The data was described using frequencies and percentages as well as descriptive graphs adjustment patterns.

Based on the results of the thesis it can be stated the medical staff need additional training in the treatment of chronic wounds. Additional training is needed especially of the characteristics of the wound care products and proper use of the wound products. Based on the results, the creation of the uniform wound care practices would help to improve the quality of the wound care. Follow-up research proposals could be as follows: to examine the effectiveness of the wound care skills training concerning the treatment of chronic wounds, further recording as well as aseptic techniques in the wards.