Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to collect information regarding the importance of oral health and oral care for hospitalized patients to prevent hospital acquired pneumonia for Westpine General Hospital. Nurses will need to be aware of the importance of oral health and will need to put this policy in action.
Background
Oral care, an essential part of overall health includes brushing one’s teeth, tongue, and using antiseptic rinse, to keep a clean healthy mouth. It is an important part of patient health and wellness and it often does not get the importance it needs for nurses to make it a priority. It is an intervention for patient comfort thus causing it to be of less importance than other patient care (Grap, Munro, Ashtiani, & Bryant, 2003) as evidence by a study interviewing intensive care nurses who rate oral care as a mere 53.9 in a 100 point scale (Jones, 2008).
According to the dissertation paper written by Jones, (2008) she found that there are drastic changes to the bacterial flora of the mouth within 48 hours of admission to the ICU. From gram positive …show more content…
Intubated patients will need frequent oral care with chlorohexidine. After reviewing numerous trials, the usage of chlorohexidine swab, rinse, or gel is the ideal method to reduced VAP/HAP. It is found to have reduced the odds of VAP in adults by 40%. (Shi, Xie, Wang, Zhang, Wu, Chen…Furness, 2013). If for any reason nurses cannot get a hold of chlorohexidine swabs or rises then they are to use tooth brushing, antibiotic rinse, or povidone iodine swab to complete patient oral hygiene. (El-Rabbany, Zaghlol, Bhandari, & Azarpazhooh, 2015). For effective oral care nurses must perform oral hygiene on intubated patients four times daily, and moisturize the oral mucosa and lips every two to four hours (American association of critical care nurses [AACN],
Background
Oral care, an essential part of overall health includes brushing one’s teeth, tongue, and using antiseptic rinse, to keep a clean healthy mouth. It is an important part of patient health and wellness and it often does not get the importance it needs for nurses to make it a priority. It is an intervention for patient comfort thus causing it to be of less importance than other patient care (Grap, Munro, Ashtiani, & Bryant, 2003) as evidence by a study interviewing intensive care nurses who rate oral care as a mere 53.9 in a 100 point scale (Jones, 2008).
According to the dissertation paper written by Jones, (2008) she found that there are drastic changes to the bacterial flora of the mouth within 48 hours of admission to the ICU. From gram positive …show more content…
Intubated patients will need frequent oral care with chlorohexidine. After reviewing numerous trials, the usage of chlorohexidine swab, rinse, or gel is the ideal method to reduced VAP/HAP. It is found to have reduced the odds of VAP in adults by 40%. (Shi, Xie, Wang, Zhang, Wu, Chen…Furness, 2013). If for any reason nurses cannot get a hold of chlorohexidine swabs or rises then they are to use tooth brushing, antibiotic rinse, or povidone iodine swab to complete patient oral hygiene. (El-Rabbany, Zaghlol, Bhandari, & Azarpazhooh, 2015). For effective oral care nurses must perform oral hygiene on intubated patients four times daily, and moisturize the oral mucosa and lips every two to four hours (American association of critical care nurses [AACN],