Skin tears are traumatic wounds, which usually occur on the extremities of the elderly. Not to mention the amount of deaths that occur when skin breakdown doesn’t get treated. The article, “Preventing in –facility Pressure Ulcers, “ states that, “60,000 U.S. patients will die from complications related to hospital-acquired Pus”. (Sullivan, 2013). Wounds are classified as a break or tear in the normal skin integrity and tissues that causes pain and further illnesses. They can develop from mechanical forces such as surgeries or a physical injury like burns. Pressure ulcers are defined as a localized injury to the underlying tissue and skin. The cause of them is pressure to certain pressure points on the patients body from prolonged …show more content…
How to prevent skin breakdown is an important tool so we can drop the death rates of patients dyeing from skin integrity, which has become such a huge problem in today’s world. One tip would be to reposition the patients frequently in a chair or bed. A big issue that health patients have is spending long periods of time in bed without moving their body to different angles to prevent skin breakdown (Taylor, 2015). Turning the resident or patient every 2 hours to prevent them from having certain body parts with lots of pressure. Keep assessing the moisture of the wound if they have one, making sure they have good nutrition and circulation. Another way to prevent skin breakdown is hydration. Making sure the patient is getting enough fluids to prevent other systems in the body to start having functioning problems. Also to make sure if the patient is allowed to get up and walk and not stay in bed all day, encourage them to do so. To check and make sure they are clean and dry. Another solution would be to keep up with the education, evaluating frequently the problem, and reassessing the patient if something is not working to better the care for patients. Another point would be if we can lower the amount of deaths from skin breakdown, in the long run it will be cheaper and less expensive because we wont be …show more content…
(2010). Treatment of skin tears. Practice Nursing, 21(11), 588-590. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.bakeru.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=24 &sid=9df114d7-955c-4bc1-a9c1-a8338ed9c4b2%40sessionmgr120&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=104946554&db=c8h
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Manning, J. A., & Chrisakis, H. (2011). Case study: The journey towards healing: Recalcitrant skin tear injuries. Wound Practice & Research, 19(1), 32-35. URL: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.bakeru.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=18&sid=9df114d7-955c-4bc1-a9c1-a8338ed9c4b2%40sessionmgr120&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=104893982&db=c8h
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Sullivan, N. (2013). Preventing in-facility pressure ulcers. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK133388/