Baby Powder at your hospital...

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 19, 2005

It used to drive me up the wall when i saw total care residents or patients coated in baby powder, looking like a ghost they had so much on. It's powder, not Shake 'n' Bake.

I used to take the SLIGHTEST dusting of it and pat it around a woman's bra line if she had a tendancy to sweat.

And i've always used just a smidge on a bedpan seat. It keeps skin from sticking to the plastic.

GigLs2u · Jul 19, 2005

Your first position should be to follow whatever the policy is of the facility you have your clinical at the time. If the facility provides baby powder then they should have a policy. If they do not provide then ask your charge nurse what the practice is for that facility. In addition, find out what your instructor's position is for that rotation.

As a registered nurse in places that did not provide baby powder and did not have a policy regarding baby powder I redirected the patient to have it brought in by a family member if they want it. Frequently, they would leave before anyone ever brought them any.

My issue with baby powder has more to do with particles in the air. I would not encourage it but there are plenty of elderly ladies I have met that insist on it. In those cases, if they could not put it on then I would lightly tap some from the container into my hand and then rub that powder where they wanted it.

In addition, you must keep the hallmark of "patient safety first". If you have a patient with acute or chronic lung problems (i.e.; asthma) in close proximity to the one who wants to use baby powder then you may have to take the position it can not be used. This position should involve the charge nurse and your instructor.

In reference to skin breakdown I have met an ET nurse who was adamantly against baby powder because under some conditions it does facility skin breakdown. If the person is sweating then the areas that are powdered can become areas of caked powder and thus pressure areas in the folds of the skin. This was a private duty case. I am not certain why but she eventually agreed to baby powder with cornstarch. Since this was a one to one case there was never an issue of the patient being left for even two hours without the nurse's attention to her physical condition.

joy

I am getting ready to start my second year of the RN program and was wondering if other hospitals had any policies against the use of baby powder on patients. One of my nursing instructors is totally against the use of it by all means. She states that it can cause severe skin breakdown and such. I have no idea and was wondering about the use of it elsewhere. And then patients or the families always ask me for it and I dont know what I should do. I alsways hear the instructor's voice in my head, ya know? I don't apply it, but I will give it to the patient if they ask. INPUT?

Surgical Hrt RN · Jul 19, 2005

Ahhhhhhhhh to powder or not to powder that is the question!:chuckle I have worked in several different hospitals and all have had differing reasons on whether or not to use powder. One unit I worked in was split down the middle on its use. So, we conducted our own unofficial study. What we found was, when used on patients with limited mobility, powder caused yeast and fungal infections in the folds of skin. The powder forms a cake-like substance and further encourages the growth of these types of bacteria that love warm, dark, moist, environments. Ever since then I don't use powder. Lotion works just as well. That's my two cents any way.....lol:rolleyes: