A patient with diarrhea is incontinent of liquid stool.The nurse documents that the patient has excoriated skin on the buttocks.Which finding by the nurse led to this documentation?

A) Skin was softened from prolonged exposure to moisture.
B) Superficial layers of skin were absent.
C) The epidermal layer of skin was rubbed away.
D) A lesion caused by tissue compression was present.

Excoriated skin refers to skin that has been rubbed away, leaving the deeper layers of skin exposed. In this case, the liquid stool has likely caused irritation and breakdown of the skin, leading to the absence of superficial layers. A softening of the skin from moisture (A) or the presence of a lesion caused by tissue compression (D) may also be present, but neither fully describes the excoriated skin documented by the nurse.