Disgusted - wipes for bathing

Nurses General Nursing

Published

At my facility, on my floor, we are to use the bath wipes for bathing out patients. We are instructed that using a basin with water & soap creates an unnecessary infection risk. The patients are not getting clean with bath wipes. I am a firm believer in soap and water to wash up. One of the aides complained to our manager that I was asking her to actually clean our patients, rather than hand them the wipes and leave them. My issue with her is really irrelevant, it doesn't matter which method, she is not going to put forth the effort to assist anyone with anything. I wish I had a patient load that allowed me time to help bath the patients. Patients need help reaching places they can't get regardless of wipes or clothes. But I talked the to the manager about my dislike for the wipes, and she said they are fine because people are not expecting to be really clean while in the hospital. It will have to do.

What do you all think about the wipes? I think in a pinch they would be ok if you were helping someone with them, but if someone is in the hospital for days at a time, they need to actually wash up! Nothing worse than seeing "bedbath complete" when the patient is still stinky.

Specializes in ICU/PACU.

I prefer them. If I have a patient come in from a facility where they are obviously never bathed, then I do a bed bath. I soak the patients in water and the bed is typically soaking wet too. I give good baths:) But the bath wipes are really nice, I have patients say they feel nice after I warm them in the microwave. I'm in ICU so I deal with a lot of BMs and diarrhea and I find the wipes better (especially the ones made for peri cleaning ) better than a rough hand cloth that may damage skin. A coworker told me towels used to be of better quality in hospitals 30 years ago.

I wouldn't feel clean after a bed bath or just a wipe down. Nothing can replace a shower imo.

I think there are much bigger problems to be annoyed at in patient care and in nursing in general than baths as well.

I prefer them. If I have a patient come in from a facility where they are obviously never bathed, then I do a bed bath. I soak the patients in water and the bed is typically soaking wet too. I give good baths:) But the bath wipes are really nice, I have patients say they feel nice after I warm them in the microwave. I'm in ICU so I deal with a lot of BMs and diarrhea and I find the wipes better (especially the ones made for peri cleaning ) better than a rough hand cloth that may damage skin. A coworker told me towels used to be of better quality in hospitals 30 years ago.

I wouldn't feel clean after a bed bath or just a wipe down. Nothing can replace a shower imo.

I think there are much bigger problems to be annoyed at in patient care and in nursing in general than baths as well.

Your co-worker was correct.

As late as the 1980's or so in most parts of the USA hospitals used the same high quality bed and bath linen.

Sheets and pillow slips were usually 100% cotton heavy muslin (about 140 thread count), not the thin poly/cotton stuff of today. Towels and wash cloths were a good heavy cotton terry. Blankets were heavy cotton as well. Even isolation gowns, patient gowns, pj's, etc... were all the best goods American fabric mills could turn out for heavy use.

Due to the frequent and often harsh laundering process hospital linens went though back in the day those whom purchased for a facility expected quality in that things would last.

Collect vintage/antique linens and have a huge stash of vintage Pequot muslin sheets and pillow cases, and you cannot kill this stuff! I can wash it in very hot water, use bleach and iron the heck of of these linens week after week and they keep on keeping on. Funny thing is when one makes the beds with them am always taken back to hospitals. Indeed make all the beds in my house with hospital corners and the ends of the pillow slips face *away* from the door! *LOL*

Well I think the problem comes down to one thing. Not enough CNAs to do a good job. Our pts do not even get their teeth cleaned. We do our best but focus on the areas that need cleaning the most. I had a very unsteady somewhat demented pts wife yell at me because he had not had a shower in two weeks. She wanted me to get him in the shower. I told her he was unsteady. I showed her the shower (old hospital) with a step up to get in. She said "this is a hospital, he is entitiled for a shower". I plain and nicely said "I cannot give him a shower; it is unsafe". Well she called the doc and there was an order for a shower. I told my charge nurse "there is no way I am giving him a shower". When a hospital is not set up for safety or large enough shower rooms no way. If I had put him in a tiny shower I would have had to get into a bathing suit myself. She was not happy but too bad.

What about a shower?

The whole thing is a sad state. Hospitals that only a walkie talkie in a good shape can get into or fit in the shower, care givers using a wash cloth and double dipping it into the water to spread dirt around. so gross! i hate when i see that! i wet the washclothes with a lot of soap and water then rinse with just a wet wash cloth then dry.sad that some people need to be taught to not reuse washcloths (by sticking them back in the basin). what a mess

Specializes in Emergency.
What about a shower?

I wish more nurses would allow their younger, stable, ambulatory patients to shower- and to encourage it. Someone in their 40's in for a variety of diagnosis are able to shower quite safely. Now, Grandma in her 90's may be in the hospital because of her inability to shower safely.

The recommendation if bath basins are to be used is this.

Basin used only for bathing. Not for storage of tools for bathing like peri-care wash, various creams, shaving cream etc.

After bathing, rinse basin and dry it, then wipe it with a patient safe antimicrobial wipe (ie NOT sani-wipes, cavi-wipes etc).

Basins themselves are cheap cheap on contract we get them for our commodes for 0.24 cents a basin.

But we also have to consider the environmental impact of a new basin for a patient daily. We would easily fill a landfill with bath basins. THink 800 bed hospital full to capacity. 800 times 365 = 292,000 basins....

It also depends on the wipes used. The ones we use are not at all like baby wipes- they are really thick and more like a regular wash cloth.

The water becomes contaminated by the Basin which has been contaminated.

Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

When I give a bed bath, I give a bed bath. Soap and water. I only use those comfort wipes for peri care, and cleaning up stools (if not too loose). They just smear around the stool if there's a lot there...you end up going through 2 pkgs of those comfort wipes for what might take 4 washcloths to clean up lol.

I can't believe you're being asked to not bathe patients properly. What? lol. How is bathing with mild soap an infection risk? lol

Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

Our policy is to throw away the basins after we use them. Just throw it out after the bed bath and get a new one the next day. Don't know if this is an official policy or not, but it's what I and many others do so germs don't grow.

Specializes in med-surg,sa,breast & cervical ca.

Oh My Gosh- I do the same exact thing, LOL- my husband thinks my "thing" about having to have fresh crisp sheets every couple days and the insisting on hospital corners and sheets/blankets completely straight is a bit OCD, Lol. He just doesnt get it. I can't not make a bed this way.And I collect the old muslin sheets too and agree they are divine to sleep in. This was in reply to DoGoodThenGo's post sorry to go OT. Ms P

Specializes in LTC.
I was told a package of wipes is cheaper than a washcloth, soap, and two towels. I guess we know where they are coming from. The linen cart in the clean room has a sign that says something like "A 10% savings in linen saves.....blah blah".

My aides and I had a fit the other weekend when we were told that we were just using TOO MUCH linen, and wouldn't be given any more. The laundry then locked up and left.

We "acquired" the key for the outer door, had to "assist" the inner door with its lock, and folded enough linen for the entire facility in about 15 minutes.

Ugh. You know, we still get told that weekends is 'gross' and that we don't put forth the effort that the weekday staff does. (fyi, the weekdays has double the staff.)

***, you really expect me to leave people in gross beds?

I love using water and soap on patients! When they feel clean and look/smell fresh I feel good and they feel good! I hate the "save linens" thing. During L&D rotation We had a patient who had lube and fluids all on her bed after pushing forever when the doctor decided to do a c-section--she was due for the section in about an hour, so I swapped out the linens that were dirty so (a) there was less risk of bacteria and (b) she was more comfortable (she was torn up about the c-section) and my nurse told me not to let anyone see me do that because the facility sees it as a waste of money since she only needed the fresh linen for an hour! My nurse was on my side, she understood why I did it and agreed with me, but was afraid her charge nurse would get mad! What on earth????? I wouldn't wanna sit in that! That's gross!

Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.
The bath basins are actually a HUGE infection risk.

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.

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