Wiping pressure of clinical nurses using pressure measurement film

−Comparison of cotton towel and disposable towel on normal skin−

Abstract

　The purpose of this study was to clarify the wiping pressure and its variation with cotton towels and disposable towels as basic knowledge for examining wiping techniques using disposable towels. Twelve clinical nurses performed partial wiping using cotton or disposable towels on the medial portions of both forearms of the same healthy skin. To measure the wiping pressure, a pressure measurement film was applied to the wiping area. The pressure area, average pressure, maximum pressure, and load were calculated using a dedicated analysis software. The measurement range was divided into six sections, and the coefficient of variation for wiping pressure among the sections was calculated. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two conditions, and that the wiping pressure was almost the same for both the materials. These results suggested that clinical nurses used approximately the same pressure for skin wiping with the two towel materials.