Preventing Skin Injury in the OR, Article Critique Example

Fletcher, H.C. (2014). Preventing skin injury in the OR. OR Nurse, 8(3), 28-34.

The introduction to this article provides a definition of pressure ulcers and then addresses preoperative assessment techniques, which include vital signs, nutritional status, integrity of the skin, and medical history, among others. The next section provides information regarding positioning and related risks, such as the supine position, the lateral position, and the sitting position, all of which have a specific purpose for the patient, such as a specific type of procedure (Fletcher, 2014). Each of these positions may contribute to the risk of pressure ulcers in different areas of the body, and patients with obesity issues may face their own set of challenges that require ongoing evaluation from healthcare providers (Fletcher, 2014). Proper documentation of the patient’s condition is also addressed within the article, including the patient’s skin status and any risks that might be observed (Fletcher, 2014). The author emphasizes the importance of documenting all phases of the patient’s condition in order to enhance the patient’s overall condition as best as possible (Fletcher, 2014). In addition, patient safety from the perspective of the healthcare provider is also considered, as this is part of a larger framework to address the issues that are most prevalent for this type of patient population who are at risk of pressure ulcers (Fletcher, 2014).

The article also provides a number of photographic illustrations which are designed to demonstrate the prevalence of pressure ulcers from a visual perspective (Fletcher, 2014). These photographs aim to associate the written descriptions of the types of pressure ulcers with the reality of how they might look on a patient (Fletcher, 2014). The article ends with the photographic evidence and does not provide any additional text beyond this section (Fletcher, 2014).

Journal Critique

This article offers some useful information regarding pressure ulcers and how they impact skin surfaces in many different types of patients, in addition to the issues that are often encountered with this patient population. The article also aims to convey the importance of the different types of skin surfaces that are affected by pressure ulcers, along with other factors that contribute to the issues that patients face with respect to these ulcers. It is important to provide this information as a viable learning tool in order to accomplish the tasks that are required to treat patients with pressure ulcers as effectively as possible. The article provides explicit detail regarding the types of positions during surgical and other procedures that may contribute to a higher risk of pressure ulcers. This information is useful because it provides a basis for understanding the challenges associated with pressure ulcers and the conditions in which there are significant risks involved for some patients.

Although this article is beneficial to some degree, it ends rather abruptly and does not provide any real ending or conclusion. Therefore, the article does not appear to be complete in some ways because it does not summarize the points that have been made throughout. Therefore, this contributes to a negative approach that has an impact on the perception of the article from the reader’s perspective. It is important to provide a conclusion to an article of this nature as a means of wrapping up the key points and in supporting the development of a final perspective regarding the information that has been provided. Since this is not the case for this article, it is incomplete and is perceived as such. Photographs at the end of an article are acceptable if there is a conclusion, but not when the conclusion is the photographs. This is a disappointing ending to an otherwise strong article with important information that is shared regarding the prevalence of pressure ulcers.

References

Fletcher, H.C. (2014). Preventing skin injury in the OR. OR Nurse, 8(3), 28-34.