Peri care steps for ambulatory female using toilet

[tomc5555]

Peri care during toileting.

For female residents who are ambulatory and using a toilet I need to confirm the steps. I assist the resident to the toilet and safely get them on the toilet. I always offer/allow privacy and dignity, then return and assist them to standing position. For independence and dignity I ask if they would like to clean themselves, and most of them do. For female residents that don't clean themselves and are in a standing position, what steps do I take to assure proper hygiene. I want to make sure I do everything the correct way, so I am not adding to risk of UTI.

I feel stupid needing to ask for this information, but we didn't cover this in CNA training. I did a search on this site but didn't find the info.

Thank you in advance for helping me.

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

You're not stupid! I appreciate that you're putting your patient needs first and are worried about UTIs.

The rule is "front to back" ie you always want to start at the lady parts and wipe towards the orifice. Never go the other way and never reuse the same part of a towel twice, and in fact is is preferable to use a new towel, or wad of toilet paper, or wet wipe for each stroke.

[tomc5555]

I recently started shift work at an assisted living facility. My trainer wiped all the residents, reaching between their legs from behind and wiping front to back. Is this the best way if the resident is standing?

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

Sounds good to me.

A tip though, sometimes patients are not the very best at wiping themselves and after you let them do it themselves it's a good rule of thumb to go in behind them and inspect their work.

Especially on confused patients they'll do a little wipe and then when you go in there with a wet rag you get all sorts of poo that they missed.

If you're working long term care eventually you'll learn who is good at cleaning themselves and who is not.

And if you have an obese patient and you're doing perianal care, don't be afraid to get way deep on in there. If they've got a really big behind and you don't wipe all the way to their orifice they'll stink and get breakdown.

[tomc5555]

Thank you for your help and information.

[v8grrl]

Peri care during toileting.For female residents who are ambulatory and using a toilet I need to confirm the steps. I assist the resident to the toilet and safely get them on the toilet. I always offer/allow privacy and dignity, then return and assist them to standing position. For independence and dignity I ask if they would like to clean themselves, and most of them do. For female residents that don't clean themselves and are in a standing position, what steps do I take to assure proper hygiene. I want to make sure I do everything the correct way, so I am not adding to risk of UTI.I feel stupid needing to ask for this information, but we didn't cover this in CNA training. I did a search on this site but didn't find the info.Thank you in advance for helping me.

easy way to remember...yellow to brown and always double check, plus can't hurt to take a few minutes to check their skin. I always tell the patient with a smile that I'm just gonna help out a bit, then i tell them it's a bit cold, and I always touch the wipe to the bum cheek first so they know the temp of the wipe before i just "sweep" . cleanliness is a good thing