Best Practice Implementation of Skin Cancer Guidelines on the EMR to Educate Patients

Siegel, Victoria
Siegel, Leeann
Eckardt, Sara Ann
Eckardt, Patricia
Ditzel, Kristin

Victoria Siegel, EdD, RN, CNS, is Professor of Nursing, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY.
Leeann Siegel, MA, MPH, is PhD Student, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Sara Ann Eckardt, MS, is Statistician, Mather Hospital - Northwell Health, Port Jefferson, NY.
Patricia Eckardt, PhD, RN, is Professor of Nursing, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY.
Kristin Ditzel, BSN, RN, is Staff Nurse, Perioperative Services, NYU Winthrop Hospital, Mineola, NY.

MEDSURG Nursing 29(6):p 407-410, November-December 2020.

This quality improvement project examined the effect of skin cancer education of nurses on medical-surgical units. Nurses who received the education reported increased knowledge and ability to assess skin cancer lesions, and expressed increased comfort in obtaining histories and conducting patient teaching.

Literature Summary

Skin cancer is the only form of cancer that continues to increase in frequency ().
Tanning beds have been deemed carcinogenic by the World Health Organization and have been outlawed in Australia (^;).
Providing patients with knowledge plays an important role in skin cancer prevention and early detection (). Nurses can teach about skin cancer and raise awareness ().
The U.S. Surgeon General has urged a collaborative effort to educate people who do not know the risks of sun exposure. Nurses have an essential role in educating the public about skin cancer ().
With increased knowledge, medical-surgical nurses can assist in reducing incidence of skin cancer. Nurses need to recognize benign and cancerous skin lesions and teach patients about sun-safe behaviors (^;^;^;).

CQI Model

Plan, Do, Check Act (PDCA) ()

Quality Indicator with Operational Definitions & Data Collection Methods

An electronic medical record template for skin cancer prevention guidelines was developed containing the following information: guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce risk of skin cancer; patient instructions to see provider if any moles have changed recently in color and size, or regarding any concerns about skin, unhealed wounds, recently changed areas.

Clinical Setting

Six medical-surgical units in 591-bed medical academic center and trauma center in northeastern United States

Program Objective

Increase nurse knowledge and expertise in teaching patients about skin cancer and sun-protective behavior based on survey results.