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SSKIN pressure ulcer song: award for team’s ‘uplifting’ awareness campaign

Community nurse’s rewrite of Pet Shop Boys hit has had thousands of views of YouTube
Community nurse Maria Levesley, sings in the studio to record her SSKIN song that raises awareness of pressure ulcers

Community nurse’s rewrite of Pet Shop Boys hit has had thousands of views of YouTube

Community nurse Maria Levesley in the recording studio

A community healthcare team has won an award for adapting the lyrics of a Pet Shop Boys song to raise awareness of pressure ulcers.

The idea came from community nurse Maria Levesley, who works for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the YouTube recording of the song It’s SSKIN has received more than 9,000 views since it was recorded at the end of last year. 

The Pet Shop Boys gave the team permission to record the song based on their hit song It’s a Sin.

Something catchy about pressure ulcers that would stick in people’s minds

Ms Levesley said: 'I wanted to write something catchy and memorable that would stick in people’s minds to raise awareness of pressure ulcer prevention in community services.’ 

SSKIN, which stands for Surface, Skin, Keep moving, Incontinence and Nutrition, is the five-step model for assessing and caring for people at risk of pressure ulcers.

Ms Levesley added: 'SSKIN is a well-established clinical approach, and the Pet Shop Boys’ song seemed to fit perfectly.’

Lyrics list risk factors and tips for prevention

The adapted lyrics, which include the line: When patients settle in a chair, you must always be aware, of redness anywhere, were described by the award judges as clever and uplifting, and manage to incorporate the risk factors of pressure damage, the signs and symptoms of pressure and how to prevent them.

The community team won the award from the journal Wound Care Today.


Further reading

Using the SSKIN to prevent pressure ulcers in ICU


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