It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

Mention an in-service on skin care and many a nurses’ eyes might glaze over.  This may be due to beliefs that skin care is not a priority assessment or a belief that “they have heard this all before”.  Yet prevention, identification and treatment of skin issues, especially pressure ulcers is a critical component of nursing care and therefore an important area for staff education.  WOC nurses at one facility decide to use creativity to tackle nursing indifference to skin issues by creating a Skin Expo entitled: “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”. The Skin Expo will be implemented in November of 2015. The purpose of the Skin Expo is to engage staff in education that will facilitate increased knowledge and attitude related to skin care.  Specific objectives include involving staff in educational activities related to 1) the importance of skin care; 2)  preventative skin care; 3) identification and differentiation of pressure ulcers from other skin issues; and  4) pressure ulcer prevention, identification and treatment. During the Skin Expo, staff nurses will circle through   stations, each one designed to embrace the Skin Expo “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere” theme while engaging staff in the learning process.  Sample stations include:  “Toes in the Sand” related to foot care, “Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes” related to the importance of staff reporting/communication of skin issues    Upon completing the stations, nurses will be asked to complete a short survey about their experience at the Skin Expo. Feedback from the survey will be utilized to evaluate the effectives of the Skin Expo at engaging staff in their learning to facilitate changes in knowledge and attitudes related to skin care.  If effective, the Skin Expo may be an innovative, creative way for other WOC nurses to market the importance of skin care.