The provision of patient personal hygiene in the intensive care unit: A descriptive exploratory study of bed-bathing practice

Abstract

This study identified variation in process and products used in patient hygiene practices in four ICUs. Further study to improve patient outcomes is required to determine the appropriate timing of patient hygiene activities and cleansing agents used to improve skin integrity.

Examining bed-bath practices of critically ill patients

“…Therefore, it is important to provide critically ill patient with effective personal hygiene as poor hygiene may increase the risk of infection. [1,2] Daily bed-baths are usually provided for most critically ill patients to improve patient hygiene, promote comfort and improve health outcomes. Although bed-bath effectiveness at reducing bacterial colonization is questionable, many clinical goals may be achieved by bed-bath such as inducing comfort, relaxation, stimulating the circulation, providing a chance for skin assessment and reducing pyrexia.…”

Opinions of Intensive Care Nurses: Traditional or Disposable Wipes Bed Bath? A Quasi-Qualitative and Cost Analysis Study

“…On the basis of a literature review, the researchers developed an ICU Nurses' Information Form, which included thirteen questions about demographics (age, gender, level of education, and working experience), opinions about two bed-baths applications (the time, the number of nurses necessary to complete the procedure, learning, performing, communicating with the patient, patient feedback, cleanliness, integrity, and softness of skin) [9,10,13]. The ICU nurses used a visual analogue scale of 5 (highly agree) to 1 (disagree) to respond to the questions about the two types of bed baths.…”

“…Larson et al [9] reported that although critical care nurses preferred the disposable bed-bath method because it required less time, there was no significant preference about cleaning and moisturizing the skin. Likewise, Coyer et al [10] identified a number of factors that are impacted by the bed-bath methods: organisational factors (timing, workload, and patient needs) and patient factors (incontinence, diaphoresis, post-operative condition, freshening-up, and the patient's/family's wishes). A study by Horstmannet al [17] determined that the majority of nurses and elderly patients preferred disposable bed baths.…”

“…The goals are to promote personal hygiene and to encourage physical and psychological well-being [7]. During hospitalization, and especially in the ICUs, patients experienced situations involving the need for personal hygiene, a procedure provided due to physical limitations from their disease [1,3,9,10]. In meeting hygiene requirements, nurses play a key role in ensuring that individual needs are met [4,7].…”

“…Coyer et al [10] determined that the primary intervention for personal hygiene was bed baths for mechanically ventilated patients (54.7%).Bed bathing is a nursing ritual and also a fundamental therapeutic nursing intervention that improves patient hygiene, removes microbes, and decreases the potential for infection [6,11,12]. This application requires close contact with the patient, use of communication skills to promote a caring therapeutic relationship, and assessing and implementing interventions such as range of motion (ROM) exercises, the application of dressings, and inspecting the intravenous site or incision area [7,8,12].…”