A team committed to a specific entity such as skin care can enhance resource availability, communication, and follow-through.

The skin is the largest organ of the body and has many complex functions.1 Intact skin is a barrier to infection; thus, alteration in skin integrity predisposes patients to infection and poor outcomes. Pressure ulcers are an important iatrogenic problem in health care with substantial financial costs.2,3 In a study of adverse events, Cho et al4 reported that pressure ulcers had the greatest effect on length of stay, with a 1.84-fold increase in stay for patients with such ulcers. Among the 7 groups of adverse events examined, pressure ulcers were the third most significant determinant of increased costs, after sepsis and pneumonia.4 Impaired perfusion, altered nutrition, unstable hemodynamic status, limited mobility, immunosuppression, and medications contribute to risk associated with altered skin integrity for critically ill children....

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