With Stop the Pressure week well upon us, tissue viability teams from healthcare organisations across the UK and Ireland are working hard to share valuable insights and raise awareness around pressure area care.
As such, tools and resources that offer succinct reminders about key pressure ulcer topics are incredibly useful to share amongst caregivers. Therefore, Medstrom has called upon its own clinical expertise from Hon. TVN and Clinical Manager, Sue Hopewell, and Clinical Director, Debbie Martindale, to release a special pocket-sized resource for assessing patients’ baseline skin tone enabling the identification of any changes.
As Seen at Wounds UK
The credit-card size resource was inspired by the fantastic Best Practice Statement entitled “Addressing skin tone bias in wound care” and formatted based on collaboration with key author contributors, including Luxmi Dhoonmoon, Nursing Consultant Tissue Viability. Using an amended skin tone colour chart, caregivers can now easily and consistently identify the baseline skin tone of their patients with the addition of a dedicated viewing pane as recommended following clinicians’ feedback.
Fellow co-author of the Best Practice Statement, Jacqui Fletcher OBE, was keen to showcase the resource the audience at her recent Wounds UK keynote presentation. Later, using the card as part of an interactive “photo-booth” style workshop that allowed caregivers to identify their own skin tone using the card to highlight effective use in clinical practice.
With nearly 20 years of experience within nursing and in particular, tissue viability, Sue Hopewell was keen to create a resource that could really resonate with fellow clinicians. She noted, “The Skin Tone Assessment Card is something that I’m really pleased we have been able to share with clinicians but most importantly, it builds on the fantastic work laid out by the Best Practice Statement. Supporting caregivers to deliver effective assessment and care for patients regardless of their skin tone.
“As a TVN, I have seen so many lives affected by pressure ulcers, so it is essential for healthcare professionals to be armed with the knowledge to help prevent this mainly avoidable patient harm.”
To find out more about how to access these Skin Tone Assessment Cards to support your Stop the Pressure Day activities, get in touch with Medstrom via: [email protected]
