Allergy Skin Testing: What Nurses Need to Know

Skin testing is a common procedure in any clinical setting. Critical care nurses will encounter skin testing in the inpatient and outpatient settings primarily to test for patient allergies to environmental factors, or allergies to certain medications. As there is a great deal of controversy about standard practices surrounding the different tests, information about various allergy tests and testing protocols is vital. Quality assurance standards should be met to ensure adequacy of the skin testing technique. Persons performing skin tests should undergo evaluation of their technique. To improve the predictive values of skin testing, and to ameliorate the incidence or severity of adverse affects, it is important for the critical care nurse to understand the dynamics of the test and the possible risks, along with variables that can confound the results. By doing this, nurses will improve not only patient outcomes related to the testing itself but also the value and reliability of the most effective diagnostic tool available for allergic disease.