Skin: An Essential Organ is Chapter 4 in Wound Care Esentials: Practice Principles, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.  The 4th Edition of this book was just released in September 2016.  This chapter was co-authored by Dr. Jeffrey M Levine with Sharon Baranoski, MSN, RN, CWCN, Elizabeth A. Ayello PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, and Marjana Tomic-Canic PhD, RN.

Wound Care Essentials is a popular textbook for clinicians involved with pressure ulcers and any other chronic wound found in geriatric patients.  This chapter covers skin anatomy and physiology, skin function, and skin assessment.  There are further sections on skin tears and other common skin conditions in the elderly such as xerosis, moisture associated skin damage (MASD), and incontinence associated dermatitis (IAD).  The important topics of skin failure, and skin changes at life’s end (SCALE) are also addressed.

The other chapters of this book cover a wide spectrum of wound care, including pressure ulcer prevention and treatment, legal and regulatory aspects of wound care, nutrition, pain management, and other types of wounds including diabetic ulcers, arterial ulcers, and venous disease.

Wound Care Essentials is available on Amazon.