hello, i'm jeanette from new zealand and i've joined allnurses.com because i have some questions and also because i'm sure i'll learn some interesting things here.
i work on a general medical ward and we sometimes have people who are dying. i've had the experience a few times of starting my shift and finding the dying patient with a mouth thickly coated with dried secretions. i think some nurses are reluctant to be too invasive but i get my gloves on, get a hot/warm flannel and try to clean everything up. i believe the most important reason is that the dried secretions can become quite a lump and then an airway risk. (i've seen a person choke on material from their own mouth). these people are usually nil by mouth and mouth-breathing - especially when they become unconscious. i find a lot of nurses use big swabs to do mouth care but i think they are too soft for removing debris, although they are good for moistening the person's mouth.
recently i was cleaning a person's mouth and i was using tweezers to remove the layers (perhaps this is not recommended) and i unfortunately pulled on mucosa at one point and caused bleeding - this memory is still with me after several days.
should i have just left the man's mouth alone? after all, he was unconcscious - did his coated mouth bother him? i also made the previous nurses look bad because it seemed (to the man's son, who was watching me) that they hadn't been doing their job.
what do the experts think? (palliative care nurses and anyone who's looked after dying people).
any tips about better methods and good solutions to use would be appreciated.
i've been honest, hope that you're not too shocked.
