SKIN CARE HYGIENE

Skin Care Hygiene

Summary

Talcum powder is a cosmetic product which is made from talc, silicon and oxygen. It may cause ovarian cancer. Researches show that talc that contains asbestos is able to cause cancer. Since 1973, talcum powders are required to be asbestos-free by law. Since talc is toxic, talc particles cause tumors in women ovaries. Researchers have found that women with ovarian cancers have used talcum powder in their genital areas more frequently than health women. Although, talcum powder is used in hospitals for the purpose of skin care hygiene but researchers concluded that its use should be minimized. An alternative should be used for skin care hygiene in hospitals and other health care providers. Nurses play the key role in all hospitals around the globe; therefore, they have high responsibilities to fulfill. The role of a nurse in Ireland varies, but the main task of every nurse is to provide the best quality care and treatment to patients, providing them with education, care and information. Nurses are required to work with a health care team, interacting with other nurses, doctors and support staff. Quality health care should be provided at doctor's clinic or hospital. Patient care should be improved, that is the driving force behind standards and regulations in quality health care. The research paper has been prepared by extracting information from recent researches and journals; however, there are many other reasons that could lead to cancer which are not included in this paper due to deviation of the papers from the selected research question. The research shows that excessive usage of talcum powder increases the chances of cancer. Therefore, hospitals should not use this powder as part of skin care hygiene.

Skin Care Hygiene

Introduction

Research question: Should talcum powder be used as part of skin care hygiene in hospital settings?

Since, the ingredients of talcum powder contains talc which is a toxic, it causes tumors in women ovaries. A strong link has been observed between frequent use of talc in the genital area and ovarian cancer (Obrams et al 2009, 255).

In 2003, Huncharek has found that women with ovarian cancers have used talcum powder in their genital areas more frequently than health women. However, the overall exposure to risk, if it exists, is small when talcum powder is used by any individual woman in the genital area (Huncharek et al 2003, 1955). But it is recommended that hospitals should avoid using talcum powder for the purpose of skin care hygiene in order to avoid the increase in risk of ovarian cancer (Langseth et al 2008, 358).

Moreover, nurses are an integral part of any hospital; therefore, they should provide key quality care and should avoid the use of talcum powder (Cook 2000, 459). Instead of using it, hospitals should go for any alternative of talcum powder because researches have proved that there are around 15,300 deaths from ovarian cancer every year making ovarian cancer the fourth most common fatal cancer after colon, breast and lung cancers in ...