Description:
Relevance of the work. In Lithuania, xerosis is experienced by between 3 to 8 people out of 10 who are over the age of 60. It is one of the first symptoms of skin change related with ageing. The wide occurrence of this condition has lead me to inquire nurses about their knowledge of xerosis and it’s treatment. This is because nurses are the first to notice a patients‘s physical and psychological changes.
Objective. Evaluate the nurses’ knowledge about xerosis occurring with patients who are over 60 years of age.
Tasks. 1. Analyze scientific literature on the symptoms and treatment of xerosis occuring to patients who are older than 60 years. 2. Evaluate the nurses‘ knowledge about treating xerosis which occurs with patients who are older than 60 years. 3. Determine nursing problems associated with treating xerosis for patients who are older than 60 years. 4. Provide practical advice for treating damaged skin caused by xerosis which occurs with patients who are older than 60 years.
Method of the empirical study. An analysis of scientific literature was performed. The empirical quantitative research method is selected. A questionnaire made up of 30 questions is compiled. Two of these questions are open questions, the rest are closed questions. The questionnaire contains questions about skin, xerosis evaluation scales, the causes of xerosis, risk factors, xerosis symptoms, treatment, emollients, nursing problems occuring when treating xerosis. Recommendations, the struggles of nurses who treat patients with xerosis and common questions (such as age, gender and the amount of work experience) are also provided. The questionnaire targets nurses who work with patients who are over 60 years of age. The nurses’ evaluated knowledge is provided in the form of graphs and tables.
Results. 97,6% women and 2,4% men have participated in the study. 75,6% of the participants were between 41 and 60 years old. The largest work experience group (63,4%) is made up of nurses who have a work experience of 26 years or more. 95,1% of the nurses are working in hospitals. 29,1% of the nurses have knowledge about skin treatment. However,
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17,6% of the nurses are lacking information on treating xerosis. When assessing the advancement of xerosis, the most commonly used is the visual analog guidance system (43,8%) and the least common is EEMCO guidance (4,2%). Emollients must be used when treating xerosis, must be used and 61,0% of the respondents claim to use them. During the treatment of xerosis, some nurses face problems such as the reduction of self - dependency in patients who are over 60 years old (22,2% of the nurses face this issue) and the lack of knowledge about treating xerosis (19,0% of the respondents). 92,7% of the respondents are experiencing lower - back pain.
Conclusions. 1. The primary symptoms of xerosis have been determined: scaling (most often in the scalp, forearm, skin and waist areas), itching, redness and cracking of the skin. The main aspects of xerosis treatment are: obtaining a proper water temperature, regular moisturization of the skin and maintaining the amount of liquids in the patient‘s body. 2. More than half of the respondents use appropriate skin moisturizing products. The nurses use emollients either as needed or after every bathing and washing session. If the patient is in a nursing department, then the nurses use emollients for 30 days in order to achieve better results. 3. The most common factors which contribute when treating xerosis are: poor social welfare of the patient, urination and defecation disorders. The most significant problems experienced by nurses are: the lack of regard to the individual situation with the patient‘s skin and the lack of moisturizing cream products. 4. Nurses need more recommendations and information about the treatment of xerosis in patients who are over 60 years of age. The provided recommendations take into account the most significant aspects of the treatment of xerosis for nurses.
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