Skin Integrity in Critical Illness

A review

The lecture duration is 25min.

0.5 CPD Points, 0.5 CEUs, 0.5 CME credits approval pending.
Accredited by CPDUK, CBRN and Provider Pending.

You can watch this lecture for free! For premium features, including a CPD/CME accredited certificate, to use time-coded note taking or get downloadable slides, you will need a fair price subscription.

Sign In or Sign Up For Free to access this lecture.
Fiona Coyer
Professor of Nursing with the School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
Lecture Summary

Skin integrity is threatened with critical illness through pathophysiological threats such as hypoxia, biophysical threats such as haemodynamic instability and reduced or poor tissue perfusion, and pharmacological agents such as vasopressors and inotropes causing peripheral vasoconstriction.  Many forms of skin damage can occur and this talk focuses on pressure injuries or ulcers; areas of localised damage from pressure or pressure in combination with shear and friction, to the skin and underlying soft tissue or mucous membrane usually over a bony prominence or related to a medical or other device. Specific risk factors for pressure injury/ulcer development in critically ill patients will be presented. Undertaking a pressure injury/ulcer risk assessment on the patient’s admission to the intensive care unit and once per shift thereafter is essential to lay the foundation for the implementation of prevention strategies. Bundle approaches to pressure injury/ulcer prevention, including prevention of device-related pressure injuries/ulcers, will be discussed.

Target Audience

Critical Care Nurses

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, you should be able to:

  • Describe the factors that contribute  to the loss of skin integrity for patients in the ICU
  • Discuss appropriate pressure injury/ulcer staging and risk assessment
  • Implement evidence-based strategies in the ICU to assist in improving patients’ skin integrity

None.