Skin Cancer, Burns and Pressure Ulcers (Nursing)

00:01 Another homeostatic imbalance that can be found in the skin is skin cancer.

00:06 This is usually due to excessive exposure to ultraviolet light or exposure to certain cancer-causing chemicals.

00:14 There are three major types of skin cancer.

00:17 There's basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma.

00:23 Basal cell carcinoma usually affects the cells found in the stratum basale layer of the epidermis.

00:30 Squamous cell carcinoma however is going to affect the living cells usually found in the more superficial layers of the epidermis.

00:40 Finally, malignant melanoma affects the melanocytes that are also found in that basal layer of the epidermis.

00:51 Most skin cancers are gonna present themselves as moles.

00:55 So how do you tell the difference between a benign mole and a cancerous mole? For this we use the 'abcde' system.

01:05 First check the symmetry of the mole.

01:09 Most cancerous moles are very asymmetric whereas benign moles have a nice symmetry to them.

01:18 The second layer is the borders.

01:20 Look at the borders of the mole.

01:23 Benign moles have very distinguished or uniformed borders whereas cancerous moles, the borders are a lot less uniform or hard to distinguish.

01:34 The third way is color.

01:37 A benign mole is usually one colour, usually a darkened pigment.

01:43 Cancerous moles however can appear as a variety of different colors.

01:49 Next, the diameter.

01:51 The diameter of benign moles is usually much smaller than that of cancerous moles.

01:58 And finally, evolving.

02:01 A benign mole usually face the same size for a long period of time, however cancerous moles start to evolve or change over time.

02:11 So if you notice a mole that is starting to look different over time, you should get it checked out.

02:20 So something else that can happen to the skin is burns.

02:23 A burn causes tissue damage due to excessive heat, electricity radioactive activity or corrosive chemicals that break down the proteins in the skin cells.

02:37 We grade burns based on their severity.

02:41 A first degree burn such as a sunburn is only going to affect the most superficial layer of the skin or the epidermis.

02:50 In a second degree burn, we are now affecting both the epidermal layer as well as the dermal layer of the skin.

02:58 Finally, in a third degree burn, we've affected both the epidermal layer, the dermal layer, and gone all the way through the subcutaneous layer.

03:08 This is the most of the most severe of the three burns.

03:12 So how do we determine how much of the body is burned when you have a severe burn? For this we use the rule of nines.

03:21 The rules of nines basically divides up the body into different percentages based on a factor of 9 with the exception of the genitals which is about 1%.

03:34 The final disorder that we will discuss today are pressure ulcers.

03:38 With age, there is an increased susceptibility to pressure ulcers especially for those who are bedridden.

03:46 This is why they are also sometimes referred to as bed sores.

03:50 With this disorder, shedding of the epithelium is caused by a deficiency of blood flow to the tissue.

03:58 And from there, this creates this ulcer or hole in the skin.