Skin color matters.

Hello, my name is Cindy Broadus. I'm the Executive Director of the National Alliance of Wound Care and Osteomy. Our organization works with our sister foundation, the International Alliance of Wound Care Scholarship Foundation, to promote and enhance education and certification in wound care. Our health shared community will provide education and information that is specific to wound care for both clinicians and patients. Thank you for viewing this video and visiting our community. Not all skin is the same. Patients who have skin of color pose challenges because impairments on darker pigmented skin are not so easily seen. We'll be discussing some of these challenges and address some tips for providing a more detailed and accurate assessment in this video. Skin color awareness is vital in assessing skin and identification of skin impairments and wounds. In Caucasian and darkly pigmented skin, the classic signs of pressure ulcers or injuries and skin damage present differently. Reports by both Rosen and Bongarten found that black patients were more likely to have stage 2 to stage 4 pressure injuries than white patients. This suggests that failure to identify pressure ulcers or injuries in the early stages and darkly pigmented skin leads to the development of deeper tissue destruction or full thickness ulcers. Clinical decisions based on skin color assessment happen every single day. Our skin is a major focus for clinicians and it's the link between the clinician and the patient. Clinicians evaluate and assess skin health and color as well as the overall health status. Skin color in health care is vital in relation to injury risk and prevalence. Let's take a look at some tips that clinicians can use when assessing skin of color. First, assume that people with darker pigmented skin are at a higher risk for skin injury. Next, you want to make sure that you use appropriate lighting. Use a pin light, a handheld mirror with a light, or a camera phone light if you're at home. You'll need proper lighting in order to be able to conduct an accurate and thorough skin check and wound assessment. Next, take your time in looking at the skin, checking in folds and creases. Check the skin from head to toe, making sure to evaluate skin underneath medical devices. Listen to your patient or loved one with any complaints of pain or discomfort that may warrant pressure, ulcer, or injury development. Next, feel for bogginess, warmth, and raised areas on the skin. It's important to know that in people with darker skin tones, the skin rarely blanches. You test for blanching by pressing gently on the area of the skin to see if it turns lighter before resuming its natural color. If the skin doesn't blanch, it often indicates a sign of pressure ulcer or injury. Next, moisten the skin and darkly pigmented skin to rehydrate the epidermis and enhance visual assessment. Remember that healing or healed wounds and darkly pigmented skin presents as hypopigmentation. There is a challenge in assessing dark pigmented skin that ongoing education can help provide a solution to. Practical knowledge of observation skills and holistic assessment can help support a resolution with this challenging problem. Thank you for viewing this video. We hope you found it to be informative and helpful.