Tips for cleaning up loose, watery diarrhea?

CCU BSN RN · Dec 9, 2016

flexi seal.

shellbeach · Dec 9, 2016

Absolutely, flexi seals are the best, but what do I do before I get an order for that?

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 9, 2016

FlexiSeal should be the last resort. Weakness of sphincter, ulcers, clogs (well, it is supposed to be flushed qshift but things can fall through cracks, you know), thrombosis of internal hemorrhoids if they are there are only some of the problems it causes. We accidentally use it on patients with loose high volume diarrhea and, say, wound vac over coccyx, but our enthusiasm about it was short-living because of complications.

Second absorbent pad between legs helps a bit, and there should be a whole lot of cream applied in between BMs. Letting patient to "breathe" with perineum open while you are doing something in the room (door closed, of course) every 3 or 4 hours really helps skin.

If patient doesn't have contraindications, ask provider for Lomotil. If abxs seem to be a cause, ask for probiotics, they help. If the formula for TF seems to be a problem, ask for alternative, if it exists, of for banana flakes or other similar bulking agent. If it smells like C.diff, send a sample and ask for treatment pronto.

And I cannot get why you do not have disposable wipes. If it is one of these senseless schmolicies, then it is time to get your Powers changing it. Wasting 10 to 15 washcloths 4 to 5 times a day (so about 60 cloths/patient/day) definitely costs more than any amount of disposables, plus in our time when wipes are available for free at any Walmart's entrance using cloths looks like bad hygiene and bad customer service.

P.S. I hate customer service component of nursing but sometimes it can be used to advantage

Buyer beware, BSN · Dec 16, 2016

And if all the above things don't work, they have this stuff called (Flex Seal) "spray it on or paint it on" which they say is guaranteed to stop any leak or your money back within sixty days.

I hope this helps.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2016

By the way, if the watery stool happens to become dried and adhere to the patient's skin, shaving cream is a gentle way to dislodge and remove it.

allnurses Guide · Dec 17, 2016

Please help a new-ish nurse out! I work in the ICU. Most of my patients are on a low air loss mattress, the kind made of blue nylon type material. On top of that, we are only allowed to use a short draw sheet and one extrasorb pad. No diapers allowed, no extra linens per hospital policy. This works pretty well for most patients, but when a patient has severe diarrhea, it tends to pool in between the patient's legs. The extrasorb pad doesn't do much to actually, you know, ABSORB the diarrhea. So we use a ton of washcloths (maybe 10? or 15?) to soak it up and then change the patient as usual. The washcloths then go in the trash. We don't have any disposable wipes.
So as you can tell, this is messy, wasteful, and just all around frustrating. In between changes, the patient's skin is coming into contact with liquid diarrhea. We do use barrier cream, but it can only do so much. I know there is some old school nurse or CNA out there who knows all the tricks. Please, any tips or ideas would be really appreciated!

Why are these washcloths going in the trash? They should be bagged and sent to the laundry - I am surprised you hospital allows this kind of waste!

I have cleaned up plenty of these messes in just the way you describe wash cloths go to the laundry to be used again. If it's an Iso patient they are red bagged for separate laundry.

Hppy