Towels for bathing

[Kringe38]

About how many towels would be needed to bathe a patient? We practiced this briefly in lab and I've also looked up video demonstrations, but nobody ever says about how many towels you'd need. I don't want to get too many but I also don't want to get in there and then realize I don't have enough.

[Always_Learning, BSN, RN]

I always get three - then you have one for the face, one for upper body, and one for lower body/peri area. And if you drop one, you can still make do. Of course, my facility has teeny tiny towels...

Sometimes, though, you have to gauge the size of the mess, and you might need many more!

[Chixie]

We normally do three-One to dry face, one to cover 'bits and pieces' and one to dry bottom etc

However we did have one manager who requested that we only use two, preferably less, per patient :icon_roll

[CuriousMe]

About how many towels would be needed to bathe a patient? We practiced this briefly in lab and I've also looked up video demonstrations, but nobody ever says about how many towels you'd need. I don't want to get too many but I also don't want to get in there and then realize I don't have enough.

Three is a good guesstimate...however, if you're just starting out...bring an extra or two (if they're small). Better to have an extra than to get flustered because you ran short.

[shrimpchips, LPN]

I usually bring at least three, but maybe another one just in case I drop one. Also keep in mind the size of the patient compared to the size of your towels...