Skin Tears Article Analysis

This article looks at the risk factors for skin tears and details prevention strategies. Adults aged 65 years and older experience skin tears, the most common wound type for this age group. The article identified risk factors that cause skin trauma. The purpose of the article is to discuss the relevance, diagnosis, and treatment methods of skin tears. Many factors contribute to the healing rates of skins tears.
The article focuses on different treatment methods. These methods include saline washes, use of strips to hold skin flaps in place, dressing types such as foam dressing, and various topical ointments such as zinc treatments. The weakness of this article is that there appears to be no use of evidence-based practice. The article does not list the method of
gathering information such as the use of published literature reviews. This may be because, as the author notes in her article, there are many inconsistencies in proper wound management as well as wound care prevention strategies within the health care community.
This project examines skin integrity in the elderly population.
The purpose of this project was to provide the evidence-based guidelines for assessing, preventing, and managing wounds in older adults patients in Australian Capital Territory (ACT) area acute aged care and rehabilitation units. The Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (PACES) and Getting Research into Practice (GRIP) program tools were used during audits. This study was conducted from June to November 2010. Acute aged care and rehabilitation units in two public hospitals in Australia were the targeted sites for the one-day audit. The sample size included 96 patients pre-audit and 95 patients post audit. The audit also observed 20 nurses. The project consisted of three phases: Audit, Implementation of the JBI Best Practice Guidelines, and Post-Implementation audit. Audit team members included a nurse, a department manager, a project leader and an analysis assistant. Team members received short education on skin tear before conducting the survey. A survey was used to gather information concerning prevalence of the rate of skin tears, category of skin tears, prevention measures, and education of
staff.
In exploring skin tear prevalence and evaluating pre- and post-implementation practices guideline for preventing and managing skin tear, the project found that proper risk assessment is crucial to any prevention strategies. No prevalence of hospital-acquired skin tear was found during the post-implementation audit. However, patients with skin tears were being admitted, which means there is a need for in home prevention education for patient and family members. The weakness of this project is the short time frame of the audit.
This paper is a summary of a workshop held to discuss the affects of aging on chronic wound healing, and discusses the limited research on wound management. The workshop was sponsored by The Association of Specialty Professors, the National Institute on Aging, and the Wound Healing Society. The workshop was attended by leading health care experts in the field of geriatrics, wound management, and skin again. Scientist and Program Staff from national organization were also in attendance. Those national organizations include National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Nursing Research. The purpose of this workshop was to explore the process of wound healing in elderly patients. These processes included the molecular and cellular processes. Therapeutic approaches such as cellular and tissue-engineered remedies, negative pressure wound therapy, electrical stimulation, nutrition, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and ultrasound therapy were discussed.
The workshop revealed more collection of data is needed in the study of wound management in elderly adult patients. Death or dropouts of sample population is one factor that makes the study of older adults and wound management a challenge. The articles list conflict of interest, which existed among some of the workshop attendees. Some participants provided services to health companies, some had patents, some received grants from health institutes and some consult university, and some were employed by companies that manufactured cell therapy products.