Implementation of skin tone assessment in pressure ulcer prevention

Abstract

Accurate skin assessment is key to pressure ulcer prevention. It has been shown that a lack of accurate assessment means that patients with dark skin tones are more likely to be diagnosed with higher-category pressure ulcers, leading to poorer outcomes (Oozageer Gunowa et al, 2017). This article highlights training and development carried out at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, to incorporate skin tone awareness into aSSKINg bundle assessments and PURPOSE T pressure risk assessments, using the skin tone tool (Dhoonmoon et al, 2021).