Assessing skin damage and prevention in elderly patients

From dryness, tears, pressure ulcers to moisture-related damage, elderly skin requires more attention from health professionals. Marie Todd highlights these common skin problems and discusses the assessment skills and preventative measures to improve patient quality of life Maintaining skin integrity in elderly patients is one of the core elements in all fields of nursing. It is important that nurses are able to identify and eliminate as far as possible the risk factors for poor skin health, which include cognitive impairment, comorbidity, and polypharmacy. Good practice involves being aware of skin problems that are likely to affect older people, and implementing robust preventative and management strategies to help reduce the incidence of skin problems. Dry skin, skin tears, moisture-related skin damage, and pressure ulcers are the most common skin problems experienced by older people. This article will highlight these issues and provide some measures practice nurses can implement and prescribe to help ...