Identification of infection in granulating wounds by registered nurses

•The purpose of the study was to investigate the methods used by registered nurses to identify infection in granulating wounds. •Although this research was completed a few years ago recent observations confirm that the findings remain relevant and that accurate identification of wound infection continues to present a challenge. •This study also set out to compare the subjects' and author's decisions on the infected status of the wounds. •The author used criteria previously developed by Cutting & Harding (1994). •Decisions made by the author were found to have a high level of accuracy when compared against a microbiological assay of the wounds.