Disgusted - wipes for bathing

Nurses General Nursing

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kcmylorn

991 Posts

I wonder if the CEO, nursing and hospital adminstrators and their families( including their little princes and princesses) use wipes instead of their showers and bathtubs? I bet their dogs and cats get a better bath and a bow in their hair when it's done.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JZ_RN

590 Posts

Specializes in Oncology.

How is a basin an infection risk? Bring lots of washcloths and towels, a basin full of warm soapy water, and a linen bag, get the washcloths wet and soapy, clean the patient, when that washcloth is dirty, put it in the linen bag, get a new washcloth, repeat until patient is clean. When you're done, rinse out the basin and dry it, since all that was in it was soapy water, and then replace if it gets icky.

Maybe if you use the same dirty washcloth in the clean water over and over it's a problem but who does that? Do these people wipe again with the old TP too? Come on!

SaoirseRN

650 Posts

We don't have wipes where I work, so we use basins and washcloths for bed baths. Our facility has a policy that a clean basin must be used every time. Some people don't follow that rule, but I always use a clean one and then place it in the dirty utility room when I'm done. I also remove random basins left in rooms so that the next shift has to get a new one.

Our plastics are cleaned down in our sterile processing department and the floors are supplied daily with clean, dry basins/bedpans/urinals.

I can appreciate the use of wipes for pericare between baths, but I very much dislike the idea of only washing with a wipe.

kcmylorn

991 Posts

This is one time I have to stick up for the CNA's- I have never found a dirty basin in a patient drawer in 30 years.!! They may be insubordinate, they may be crafty in getting out of their work, they maybe not able to find when you need the "MIA", they may not do as you ask them to do, they may be rough with patients, they may step outside their bounds in their job discriptions, they may not do final end of shift rounds- BUT: I have never seen them leave a dirty basin in a patient drawer. The aids are the first to run to get a new basin. I have always seen and noted that when the CNA washes a patient for AM care, that patient looks like they were washed and most of time they smell like they were washed- many of the CNA's I worked with brought in their own bath "products" and kept them in their lockers!!

wooh, BSN, RN

1 Article; 4,383 Posts

How is a basin an infection risk?

Perhaps you should ask the basin, as there's lots of literature out there showing there's nasty stuff growing in the plastic basins after baths. I'm a gal that generally will flat out admit that I think the infection control people ARE THE ENEMY for the bedside nurses just trying to do their job. But I've seen the literature on this.

That ziploc bag idea someone mentioned above though sounds quite interesting. I do wonder about the microwaving, since it doesn't heat evenly. I'd hate to grab a washcloth from a hot spot and burn some sensitive elderly skin.

We also use the wipes where I work. They're horrible! I can't imagine taking a bath with them. When I was an aid in a nursing home, we used soap and water. Wipes are for wiping after you go to the bathroom, not to bathe with. These patients are still smelly because the aids are forced to use them. It stinks...literally. :/

klangelo

13 Posts

My facility doesn't use basins. We use extra large ziplocks; put in 6-7 washcloths, water, soap & microwave for 1-2 minutes, wrap in a towel to keep warm. Each pt gets a baggie for their bath. I work nights, so don't give too many baths, but I'm not sure that we even have wipes available.

we do the same, and i love it!! they are less fussy than basin baths but I still think they do a great job if you use the right proportions of water and soap.

umcRN, BSN, RN

867 Posts

I work in a PEDIATRIC icu...and we are supposed to use the WIPES! :-(

The rationale being that bacteria can grow in the plastic buckets between washes and cause infection.

Ok, my fresh, night one, post op open heart....yeah that kids so unstable he'll be lucky to get his eyes wiped out, but the chronic trach/vented kiddo whose been on the unit for 16 months??!! You bet your a** I'm using soap & water. If I have time, I use soap and water on all my patients that will tolerate it (I work days so I don't do as many baths as night time people do as our baths are expected to be done at night).

My patient from today is on ecmo and has had an EEG on all week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes off tomorrow so I can just scrub that little head of hers!

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
If one reads the AJCC study (see link posted by me upthread) it is not just the basins but contaminated bathing water, mechanical action of bathing, and so forth that are also part of the problem.

OTOH can see where they were going with this. I mean if one basin of soapy water is used for the entire bath it is going to be quickly contaminated. Each time the washcloth is immersed and wrung out of that water it not only adds more but things are picked up on the cloth and taken back to the patient. Sooner or later the bath water if left unchanged will become saturated with germs to the point one supposes more things are being spread than removed from patients.

Way around this would be frequent changes of water but probably also the basins and washcloths.

We like to get around it by only dipping a washcloth in the water one time and then using a new one. Uses about 5-10 washcloths for the bath. Guess the linen cost is higher, lol

AngelicDarkness

365 Posts

Specializes in geriatrics, IV, Nurse management.
This is one time I have to stick up for the CNA's- I have never found a dirty basin in a patient drawer in 30 years.!! They may be insubordinate, they may be crafty in getting out of their work, they maybe not able to find when you need the "MIA", they may not do as you ask them to do, they may be rough with patients, they may step outside their bounds in their job discriptions, they may not do final end of shift rounds- BUT: I have never seen them leave a dirty basin in a patient drawer. The aids are the first to run to get a new basin. I have always seen and noted that when the CNA washes a patient for AM care, that patient looks like they were washed and most of time they smell like they were washed- many of the CNA's I worked with brought in their own bath "products" and kept them in their lockers!!

I've also seen that. And they're darn good at it:)

Makes you wonder if the CEOs or nursing administraters were admitted, if they would agree to the bath wipes? Usually thats when the changes start happening:)

DoGoodThenGo

4,129 Posts

IMHO one of the larger problems is that many facilities are >20 or even >50 years old and thus aren't equipped with modern shower facilities for elderly, disabled and or those with limited mobility. While the current trend towards remaking floors with semi-private rooms into all private suites does offer chances to address this problem, given the predicted vast numbers of persons soon to become "elderly" more is going to have to be done and quickly.

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