Head To Toe Skin Assessment

As a nurse, one of our best practices is performing a thorough skin assessment of the whole body of our patients. The nurse must perform a thorough skin history, examination, and document findings. It is vital for the nurse to know the basic principle of skin disease and care when caring for patients. A detailed head-to-toe skin assessment and documentation can help the health team in generating the plan of care. As cited by Jarvis (2012, p.203), “The skin is the sentry that guards the body from environmental stresses (e.g., trauma, pathogens, dirt) and adapt it to other environmental influences (e.g., heat, cold).” Maintaining patient’s skin integrity is essential when providing care. In order to perform a thorough skin assessment, I inspect and palpate …show more content…
In addition to that, I joined the pressure ulcer and skin committee. I presented myself to perform the weekly wound watch in our unit. I ask the wound specialist nurse for assistance when needed. As a result, I became an expert in wound care. My responsibilities as the skin and wound facilitator for our unit is providing education to the staff and for the patients. I share the knowledge I learned from the committee and seminars to my colleagues. I ensure to address any concerns that have regarding with patient’s skin issues and care during our staffing meeting. I am their go to person when my colleagues have questions regarding with classifying the wounds and proper treatments. In addition to that, one also does the monthly audit for developed pressure ulcers. I ensure that nursing staff are documenting the wounds properly and implementing pressure ulcer preventions at all times. I am also the Minimum Data Set (MDS) facilitator for our unit. Any skin problems or risk for having skin breakdown should be address in their individualized care plan. These issues are addressed during the patient’s interdisciplinary care meeting. I include the patient, family, and staff in goal setting. I ensure that