Basic Mouth Care

ShortFuse_LPN, LPN · Oct 21, 2002

How do you guys feel about those lemon-glycerin swabs? We have a family who asks for (demands) them for their mother everytime they come to visit. I feel they only dry out the mouth...not to mention taste awful. Thanks for your input.

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2002

The babies on our NICU LOVE the lemon swabs!! First of all, they're convenient, because it's hard to get a fingertip past the lips in some of our smaller preemies. The swab can just be swept in there to clean the gums and inside of the cheeks. The babies love the flavor, from what I've seen...they always calm down and just smack their lips when we use them. Sometimes, we use them for treats if you can believe that! I think they just get tired of that funky formula taste. I also use them regularly to clean the mouth after episodes of GE reflux, when that stomach acid is just sitting inside their mouth after they spit up. I've tasted one myself, and I don't see the appeal, but for the little ones I don't know what I'd do without them!

Step · Oct 21, 2002

Some of us may think the lemon swabs taste awful, but consider the poor old soul with nothing to stimulate the taste buds for a period of time... I reckon in their mind they are going "YES, OH GOD YES i WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!".... and they fulfill not one, not two, but three functions. To cleanse the mucosa, stimulate the taste buds, and stimulate the salivary glands to help produce the mouths own natural disinfectant (and sometimes to irk the patient so much they stimulate their CHEW instinct, not sure they are designed for that though :) )

Nurse Ratched, RN · Oct 21, 2002

Adrie, on our unit today, I was passing meds and asked an aide (who was standing at the nurses' station reading a newspaper) if she would mind shaving a gentleman who was sitting in a gerichair three feet from her. She said (not even looking up) "We showered and shaved him yesterday." I was very irritated at this response, but said, "That may be, but he needs to be shaved." She asks, "Is there a reason we can't wait to shave him until tomorrow when we shower him again?"

AUUGGGHH. I told her men who can shave themselves shave every day for a reason - beacause they NEED it. And he needed it now so please just DO it.

In this case, the aide was looking at the patient as a schedule of tasks to be performed, and if doing something wasn't on her list of stuff to be done, it wasn't gonna happen. I'm sure I was seen as the evil b*tch nurse for asking this, but when she is licensed to pass meds, I'll be glad to give that task to her and shave and swab the poor guy myself.

(Thumpthumpthump - my head beating against the wall....)

baseline · Oct 21, 2002

Basic nursing care....by far my favorite harping point.....Good oral care is so important. Just look at the newest studies on the connection of gum disease to cardiac problems .....just for starters. And it increases the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia....and ...and...and ....jeez....its just what we DO...(isn't it?)

Step · Oct 21, 2002

Originally posted by Nurse Ratched
(Thumpthumpthump - my head beating against the wall....)

Hahaha I can just hear that thumping way over here in Australia, watch it or you will end up with a head injury and maybe needing someone to give you mouth care :)

donmurray · Oct 22, 2002

Perhaps in this cutting edge, high-tech nursing world we should drop the word "basic" as many seems to view "basic" tasks as beneath them.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Oct 22, 2002

Don, you make an excellent point. Nursing is about more than sticking needles and tubes in people. I remember being an aide and enjoying the nightly rituals with my residents in LTC. While it was a unique facility, p.m. care always included (among other things) a backrub, careful cleaning of dentures, and periodic tweezing out those massive chin hairs that seemed to sprout overnight on our ladies lol.

While we all get caught up in the daily rush to get pills passed, documentation done, etc., it's important that we reflect in our own actions to our aides that we think those other treatments are as important (or more so, depending how you define quality of life.)

baseline · Oct 22, 2002

Don, you remind me of a night in ICU. I was working with a young bright energetic young nurse whose patient was confused, crawling out of bed etc. This young man tried every chemical restraint he was allowed...and as many of you may already guess...the confusion only got worse. I suggested we give the man a bath.....This was greeted with a fair amount of skepticism, but bathe we did......warm water, quiet voices, gentle hands....and the man slept. The young nurse I was working with just couldn't believe what had happened. I just told him that if it was good basic nursing care....but if that wasn't hi-tech enough for him....we could just call it touch therapy.............. :-)

adrienurse, LPN · Oct 22, 2002

Baseline, you hit the nail right on the head. I love your way of looking at things.

Nurse Kat · Oct 22, 2002

I just finished a placement on a surg ward here in Australia where they were trying a new product, cant remember the name but they were like litle green sponges on the ends of skewers and had a minty refreshing taste. Pts liked them and the staff didn't see much difference. Must be better than just water and cotton on a stick!!

adrienurse, LPN · Oct 22, 2002

That's what a toothette is. I think we use those a lot in North America.