Background:

There is no reliable data on how many individuals in Sweden suffering from wounds, but one expects that both the incidence and costs will increase as the population ages. The nurse is mostly the profession that makes the initial assessment and makes decisions about treatment. Wound treatment is a complex task that requires both technical skills and a good knowledge.

Aim:

To describe nurses' experiences of wound and wound treatment.

Method:

Qualitative content analysis based on individual interviews with nine nurses / specialist nurses.

Results:

Six categories emerged: "Lack of knowledge affect", "Lonely with responsibility and lack of support", "The team as a strength", "Organization and resources as a limitation", "Knowledge, experience and interest leads to success", "The whole human in focus".

Conclusion:

Knowledge about wounds is varied. The knowledge regarding wounds is sometimes inadequate and there's a lack of support from doctors. The nurse has primary responsibility for treatment and can sometimes feel lonely with a difficult task. There´s a lack of training on wounds in the basic training for nurses and in the various specializations. Inadequate cooperation between caregivers, unclear responsibilities, limited range of materials, lack of support and inadequate documentation system is described as occurring obstacles in order to provide good wound care. There is a need to find strategies to encounter these weaknesses to prevent suffering from care.