Can using a True to Scale Diagram of the Skin improve Accuracy in Identifying Tissue Depth

Can using a true to Scale Diagram of the Skin improve Accuracy in Identifying Tissue Depth

You can look in textbook after textbook, google any website for images of the skin and what you come up with is all the same. Visually you will usually see a square or rectangle schematic diagram of the anatomy of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. The diagram is always, and understandably, much larger to show the different layers of the epidermis and the dermis. The thickness is usually stated but for a visual person that gets lost. Teaching and educating in home care, the issue that is seen most is the inability to differentiate between full and partial thickness. This is with any type of wound/ulcer. When there is a higher reimbursement for stage III pressure ulcers and we document stage II we lose needed revenue plus distort outcomes.

What happens when we change the typical way we are teaching. When you add a diagram that is true to or close to the true scale of the epidermis, and dermis to those online classes?  Does an actual true visual make a difference?

100+ nurses pre-tested with standard schematic diagram of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Post test with standard schematic diagram of the skin and subcutaneous tissue along with a true to scale diagram.

Conclusion: Overall Nurses do make appropriate choices with true to scale schematic diagram.