Assessment of Hand Dryness and Irritation.
Three methods were used to assess dryness and irritation of the hands of participating nurses:
self-assessment, visual scoring by a study nurse,
and assessment of epidermal water content (skin dryness) by measuring electrical capacitance.
Assessments were performed at the beginning of both phase 1 and phase 2 (baseline readings), at the midpoint of each phase, and at the end of phases 1 and 2 (final readings).