Bed Baths, I dread giving them.

Nurses General Nursing

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OK, so now I'm going to split my 0.6 FTE on our small rural hospital 6 bed CCU/Stepdown unit half and half, 12 hour days and 12 hour nights, since some rare weekday dayshifts opened up. I'm keeping nights for my weekend obligation. In our unit, baths are done on days. I have never worked days in my 13 years of being a nurse. I told my manager today that my worst fear is giving baths. I have a great manager, btw.

Any tips on giving bedbaths? Really, I'm totally unskilled at giving bedbaths. Anyone else scared of them?

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
These are great tips, thank you.

Do you give a bed bath to a patient who is physically able to bathe themselves? Or do you give them supplies and privacy?

Such a basic question, I know. I've given bed baths to patients who were physically able to do it - but now I wonder if I did the right thing?

I asked the pt.

Most that could do this themselves just needed help reaching their back.

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These are great tips, thank you.

Do you give a bed bath to a patient who is physically able to bathe themselves? Or do you give them supplies and privacy?

Such a basic question, I know. I've given bed baths to patients who were physically able to do it - but now I wonder if I did the right thing?

I can't think of a reason why I'd give a bedbath to a pt who is able to do so on his or her own. I would provide the equipment and pop in to see if he or she wanted help reaching the back, but otherwise, that's not an appropriate use of my time. And, it is entirely possible that by doing the bedbath for them, you are taking away the last of their independance.

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i agree, bath time is a great assessment time. we have a bath cna, she gives showers 2x aweek. our wound care pts. have a whirlpool 2x a week. all pts. trach, pegs, piccs receive a shower at least once a week. if they refuse, we contact their poa, unless they are their own rp, usuallt that solves the bath dilemma.:lol2:

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Specializes in ER/Geriatrics.
i agree, bath time is a great assessment time. we have a bath cna, she gives showers 2x aweek. our wound care pts. have a whirlpool 2x a week. all pts. trach, pegs, piccs receive a shower at least once a week. if they refuse, we contact their poa, unless they are their own rp, usuallt that solves the bath dilemma.:lol2:

are you saying that you would threaten to envoke a personal directive based on the fact that someone does not want a bath or shower?

liz

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YES, THIS IS OUR POLICY. IF ANY RX, MED .ETC. IS REFUSED, THE POA OR RP IS CONTACTED. THIS IS THE POLICY IF MY FACILITY:rolleyes:

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Specializes in ER/Geriatrics.
YES, THIS IS OUR POLICY. IF ANY RX, MED .ETC. IS REFUSED, THE POA OR RP IS CONTACTED. THIS IS THE POLICY IF MY FACILITY:rolleyes:

Are all your patients considered incompetent?

Liz

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Over 3/4 Of The Residents Have A Poa Or Rp. None Are Legally Incompetent, It's Merely Their Choice.

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Medical Power of Attorney does not go into effect until the patient is unable to make or communicate decisions for him or herself. The MPOA is also not allowed to contradict wishes that the patient has made known. So, 1) if the patient is able to express his or her wishes, it is not the MPOA's concern as the MPOA has no right to make decisions as long as the patient is able to do so and 2) the MPOA must abide by the patient's wishes, even after the patient becomes unable to make or communicate decisions.

If you are just informing the MPOA that a med/treatment has been refused, that seems to be a HIPAA violation, as the MPOA does not go into effect until the patient is unable to make or communicate health care decisions.

If you are trying to get the MPOA to overrule the patient's decisions, well that is just illegal as they do not have the capacity to interfere with a competent patient's wishes.

Either way, the practice is a violation of the patient's privacy and rights and is completely unacceptable, whether it is "policy" or not.

Off my soapbox now, as we return to our regularly scheduled thread...

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I agree RN4. I've had some arrogent husbands who have DPOA for their wives, and think it means that they can call all the shots for them in the hospital. The wife will be arguing with her husband, for instance recently a pt's husband wanted her to be transfered to Seattle. The wife was A&O and said "no I don't think that's neccessary". Later the husband strutted up to the nurses station announcing that he had "power of attorney" and so he gets to make all the decisions. I had to explain to him that it only means that he makes the decisions when his wife is unable to speak for herself.

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Specializes in Junior Year of BSN.
Medical Power of Attorney does not go into effect until the patient is unable to make or communicate decisions for him or herself. The MPOA is also not allowed to contradict wishes that the patient has made known. So, 1) if the patient is able to express his or her wishes, it is not the MPOA's concern as the MPOA has no right to make decisions as long as the patient is able to do so and 2) the MPOA must abide by the patient's wishes, even after the patient becomes unable to make or communicate decisions.

If you are just informing the MPOA that a med/treatment has been refused, that seems to be a HIPAA violation, as the MPOA does not go into effect until the patient is unable to make or communicate health care decisions.

If you are trying to get the MPOA to overrule the patient's decisions, well that is just illegal as they do not have the capacity to interfere with a competent patient's wishes.

Either way, the practice is a violation of the patient's privacy and rights and is completely unacceptable, whether it is "policy" or not.

Off my soapbox now, as we return to our regularly scheduled thread...

Exactly! :yeahthat:

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I can't believe that a nurse of any kind is asking how to do a bed bath? am I missing something?

Liz

i got the impression it wasnt so much HOW to do a bedbath but how to save face when doing one and not be embarrassed more than needing to know how. OP i suggest you just do them . the more you do, you will feel less uncomfortable with them. there really is no way to get beyond the fear of doing them then to do them. just remeber you probably arent the only one embarrassed - i simply state what i need to do - that i know it may be uncomfortable for them ( especially if they are a younger male as one can get in a hospital seting) and encourage them to do as much as they can of the private areas to save both any embarassment. good luck.

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moongirl posted - "Ask a CNA you work with I am sure they would be happy to show you proper techinque"

If possible, ask and work with a few, or several, CNAs.

I have worked with a few CNAs that seemed to be very fast. How? They only washed and dried. No lotion used, powder everywhere "because it smells good'. When a patient was incontient of urine, the area was not washed, just the incontient pad or brief/diaper was changed.

oh yeah - big peeve of mine - when they dont get washed after being incontinent - drives me crazy.

other peeves- behind and in ears ( think someone mentioned this ) and between the toes! seems to be the most forgotten areas i have seen and under breasts and folds -

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