Question about geriatric skin assessment?

[g089]

Hi, I was wondering, when doing a skin assessment on an elderly patient, what kind of questions should I ask them regarding their medications and nutrition that would affect my assessment?

[chulada77, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

Nutrition and medication questions won't tell you about their skin but it'll give you some insight to their potential med issues that are being dealt with. Of course, you will probably know their Medical diagnoses so that should give you MORE insight. Also, understanding your patient's mobility will give you some help with knowing whether they are at risk for skin integrity problems.

Nutrition: ask about whether they are taking supplements and what they are. Protein, zinc, and vit C (protein especially) can help with healing.

Medications: if the patient is taking about diabetic meds than that is an automatic red flag since they can have poor circulation or peripheral neuropathy too. These issues go hand-in-hand.