Teaching nursing students about skin cancer using a skin analyzer machine

Skin cancer is the only form of cancer that is increasing in frequency in the United States. Over 1 million new cases are diagnosed annually. Every 20 seconds someone is diagnosed with skin cancer and one person dies nearly every hour. Annual occurrence of skin cancer exceeds the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon (American Cancer Society, 2013). One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime (American Academy of Dermatology [AAD], 2015). Melanoma is the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 25-30 and is second only to breast cancer in women ages 30-34 (National Cancer Institute [NCI], 2015). One contributing factor to this epidemic is failure to follow sun-protective behaviors. Many people seek the tanned look, and the use of tanning salons has contributed to the increase in skin cancers in young women. About 90% of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. This is a serious public health concern.