When developing a product, we reach out to professionals and educators to ensure that our products are needed and will address the needs of healthcare educators.
To develop the Avwound, Avkin worked with Tina Holden, an RN for six years who has worked specifically with wound care for the past year and a half. Adding to her expertise, Tina also has a Fine Arts degree and has always been interested in special effects. She’s previously worked with the University of Delaware’s disaster simulation, using prosthetics and moulage to create extremely realistic wounds in the process.
To develop the Avwound, Tina drew from her experience to sculpt the master mold and the molds of the different staging of wounds. She has worked on a lot of pressure injuries and was sure to incorporate lessons learned in her process.
“A critical difference between learning on manikins and learning with high-fidelity simulation is the chance to practice real interaction,” said Tina. “Being immersed in a simulation helps practice communication and critical thinking skills. It’s crucial to get it right.”
With the Avwound, students can practice a wound care encounter from start to finish. It was important to Tina that the Avwound not only have realistic structures within the wound bed but also for it to mimic how a wound behaves. The skin around the wound can blanch, depending on whether or not tunneling is present and if there is ample blood flow necessary to health the wound. The wound will ooze fluids, both healthy and unhealthy, so the learner can drain the wound, clean it, and then repack it. High-grade silicone allows the learner to use the same products they would on a human being, without having to worry about damaging the device.
Ultimately, Tina enjoyed working on a new, unique product for the field. While many products are simply a cross-section of a wound, the mobility, and modality of the Avwound, and ultimately its ability to provide a holistic encounter with a patient in simulation, is the highlight of the Avwound.
To learn more about the Avwound and to see a short video demonstration, visit https://avkin.com/avwound-wound-simulator/