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14.1: Integumentary Assessment Introduction

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    44627

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    Learning Objectives
    • Perform an integumentary assessment including the skin, hair, and nails
    • Modify assessment techniques to reflect variations across the life span and ethnic and cultural variations
    • Document actions and observations
    • Recognize and report significant deviations from norms

    Assessing the skin, hair, and nails is part of a routine head-to-toe assessment completed by registered nurses. During inpatient care, a comprehensive skin assessment on admission establishes a baseline for the condition of a patient’s skin and is essential for developing a care plan for the prevention and treatment of skin injuries.[1] Before discussing the components of a routine skin assessment, let’s review the anatomy of the skin and some common skin and hair conditions.

    1. Medline Industries, Inc. (n.d.). Are you doing comprehensive skin assessments correctly? Get the whole picture. https://www.medline.com/skin-health/comprehensive-skin-assessments-correctly-get-whole-picture/#:~:text=A%20comprehensive%20skin%20assessment%20entails,actually%20more%20than%20skin%20deep. ↵

    This page titled 14.1: Integumentary Assessment Introduction was last modified on Sat, 26 Feb 2022 02:48:02 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ernstmeyer & Christman (Eds.) (OpenRN) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.