Night shift: let residents sleep?

[RGuadagna]

I am currently filling in for our regular night RN who is on vacation (read: new to the night shift). Our facility is really focussing on patient-centered care etc, and I was just curious what the routine is out there in other ltc homes with regard to nighttime incontinence care?

My question is this: should we be padding the beds really well and letting them sleep OR should we continue to wake them up several times/night to change linens? If it were me, I'd say let me sleep. However, I could totally understand others not wanting to sleep in urine. So for those who can't speak for themselves, which is the more resident-centered approach?

[TrickieTam]

I would prefer to be woke up for 5 minutes of protecting my itching skin from the burning urine or bm on my skin, than to lay there for 8 hours and have brown rings on my pad so dark I could star in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie.

[BackfromRetirement]

Sleep is not usually addressed in lawsuits. Pt's who are not clean and dry at all times will have skin breakdowns. Skin breakdowns are considered neglect.

[emptygeorge]

I have been working night shift as a nurse for 17 years and worked for  6 years prior to that as a NAC.  I was a firm believer in q2h rounds.  Recently I started working at a new facility that uses wraps along with briefs and has the policy that you can go in and change the wrap but otherwise not turn the resident from 2300 to 0600.  I have been pleasantly surprised that we do not seem to have any increased issues with skin breakdown than the  facilities that turn and change every 2 hours.  skin barrier cream is used to keep moisture from breaking down the skin but traditional rounds are not done unless they are care planned or have open areas.  When you change the wrap if you see(or smell) BM you clean them up but don't disturb them to check for BM.

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

A previous facility I worked in had us putting AFO and splints on at night. Of course,nobody slept.