Pressure sore and skin tear prevention and treatment during a 10-month program.

This article reports the results of a 10-month skin care program for 30 clients on a residential Alzheimer's disease unit. The majority (n = 26) of the clients were free of pressure sores and skin tears through preventive care during this study. Four clients with Stage I pressure sores and/or skin tears were successfully identified by consistent assessment and healed quickly due to rapidly initiated treatments. This skin care program's success was attributed to consistent education, preventive care, assessment, documentation, and treatment executed by the entire care team under the leadership of nurse practitioners, one of whom was certified as a rehabilitation nurse.