EXTR-WGN-WND Workforce Development Training | Senior Living & Memory Care

Wound Care Assessment & Clinical Practice in Senior Living

A competency-based certificate for CNAs, licensed nurses, and the wider care team in senior living, memory care, and long-term care settings.

20 Hours

13 Modules

4 Phases

$3,000/participant

Download Overview

A nurse in a cardigan gently checks the skin on an older resident's forearm at a bright bedside in a senior living community while the resident smiles

"Wound complications are among the most common drivers of adverse events and avoidable hospitalizations in senior living, and among the least funded areas of workforce training."

Who This Program Is For

Full-time, permanent employees at least six months into a clinical caregiving or nursing position, nominated for expanded wound care responsibilities based on demonstrated performance:

CNA or Care Associate taking on wound monitoring, prevention, and documentation duties
LPN or LVN assigned to a wound care team, nurse manager, or care lead role
Nurse Manager or Care Lead responsible for wound documentation, trend tracking, and pressure injury prevention
Medication aides and wellness team members in assisted living or memory care communities with higher-acuity residents

Learning Objectives

Identify the residents most at risk of skin breakdown and the five forces that break skin down, before a wound forms
Describe the phases of wound healing and recognize the signs that a wound has stalled, using the four-week checkpoint to reassess
Distinguish pressure, venous, arterial, diabetic, surgical, and traumatic wounds, skin tears, and moisture damage by mechanism, appearance, and position
Perform one consistent wound assessment with clear role boundaries, naming tissue types, describing drainage, assessing pain, and documenting so the next caregiver can compare
Stage pressure injuries with NPIAP criteria, including deep tissue injury and Stage 1 on darker skin
Apply the SSKIN prevention bundle every shift, matched to each resident's Braden score
Recognize early signs of local, spreading, and body-wide wound infection, including new confusion as a possible sign of sepsis, and escalate without waiting
Support healing with protein, calories, and fluids, and report intake accurately to trigger a dietitian referral when needed
Prepare the wound bed with the TIMERS approach and select dressings by category, not brand, matched to moisture, depth, infection, and comfort
Track wound trends with consistent measurement and consented photography, work the negative pressure safety check, and deliver a telehealth handoff a specialist can act on

Curriculum Overview

13 modules in 4 phases, delivered over 20 hours.

Skin, Risk & How Wounds Heal (Modules 1 to 3)

Why pressure injuries and chronic wounds are a high-cost, high-stakes problem in senior living, the residents most at risk, and the five forces that break skin down. How a wound heals in plain language, what stalls each phase, and how to read a wound by mechanism, appearance, and position instead of guessing.

Assessment, Staging & Documentation (Modules 4 to 5)

One assessment every caregiver performs the same way, with clear role boundaries between unlicensed observation and licensed measurement. Tissue types, drainage, pain assessment when a resident cannot speak, and NPIAP staging from Stage 1 through Stage 4, unstageable, and deep tissue injury, including recognition on darker skin.

Prevention, Infection & Nutrition (Modules 6 to 8)

The SSKIN bundle on every shift, matched to Braden risk, with heels and sacrum protected first. Catching local, spreading, and body-wide infection early, clean technique during dressing changes, and the protein, calories, and fluid a wound needs to close, with accurate intake reporting and dietitian referral triggers.

Treatment, Tracking & Handoffs (Modules 9 to 13)

Wound bed preparation with TIMERS, debridement methods and when to escalate, dressing selection by category rather than brand, and recognizing maceration and over-drying. Consistent measurement and consented photography to catch stalls, advanced therapies and the negative pressure safety check, and telehealth handoffs a remote specialist can act on.

Delivery Format

Total Hours

20 Hours

4 hrs online + 16 hrs customized on-the-job training

OJT Location

On-Site

Completed at the employer's community, customized to the trainee's clinical role and active care assignments

Certificate

Upon Completion

Issued upon passing a final competency assessment

Eligible Departments

Care & Nursing

Care/wellness, nursing, memory care, medication aides