Basin Bed Baths vs. Disposable Bath Wipes: Which method is best?
Kevin Gross
Introduction
• Personal Hygiene: What is it, and why is it
important?
• Bed baths: What is it, and why are they
important?
• Traditional practice: Basin with soap and
water
• Current Standards: American Academy of
Critical Nurses suggest disposable bath
wipes
Purpose
The purpose of this presentation is to
discuss current practice in bathing patients
in the clinical environment as well as
introduce an alternative method in order to
keep up with current standards.
Methods
• Study 1: Descriptive design. 60
nurses were observed. Graded
using “assessment sheet”
• Study 2: Observational study.
40 patients were involved.
Independent variables:
disposable wipes and
traditional basin bath.
Dependent variables: time and
quality, microbial counts,
nurses satisfaction, and costs.
Study 3: Systematic review: 2
studies were reviewed.
Independent variables: Bath
without water and traditional
basin bath. Dependent variables:
physiologic outcomes, stakeholder
outcomes, and organizational
outcomes.
Old Dominion University
Findings Nursing Implications
• Understand personal hygiene
Study 1: requirements of patients
• Of the 60 nurses involved more than half were less than 25 years old. • Understand how spread of contaminants
• Two thirds of them had a BSN. from one area of the body to another can
increase risk of infection
• Two thirds had more than 5 years of ICU experience • Know how hospital acquired infections
• More than three quarters of the nurses had improper bath techniques (HAIs) occur and work to reduce
• Study revealed that there was a significant gap between what is currently being done and what should be done occurrences.
with regard to EBP recommendations. • Understand time on task for bathing
patient and work to reduce amount.
• Showed that bath time should be patient centered and should aim to complete them at a time that doesn’t • Understand how poor hygiene can affect
interrupt sleep. It should be done efficiently so that sleep schedules are not interrupted (AACN recommends self-esteem and patient satisfaction and
avoiding the hours between midnight and 0600 for that reason) (El-Soussi, A., Asfour, H., 2016) work to improve upon it.
Study 2:
• Consisted of 40 patients
• Majority of patients were men with an average age of 60.7 years
• Average number of days in the hospital before study took place was 21 days Conclusion
• Average number of days on antibiotics before study took place was 15.2 days • Traditional basin bed baths have been
• No significant difference between disposable bath wipes and traditional basin baths when measured for time and shown to increase risk of HAIs
• Current changes in practice indicate use
quality and microbial counts
of disposable bath wipes.
• Significant differences were noticed between disposable bath wipes and traditional basin baths when measured 1. Reduce time on task
on cost savings and nurses’ satisfaction. 2. Save money
❖Cost savings were related to a reduction in total supplies used and time it took to complete the task. 3. Decrease patient
discomfort
(Larson, E., Ciliberti, T., Chantler, C., Abraham, J., Lazaro, E., Venturanza, M., Pancholi, P., 2004).
4. Increase patient
satisfaction
Study 3:
• Consisted of two studies that were systematically reviewed and deemed to be of high quality.
• No significant difference was noticed in microbial counts between the two methods (bathing without water and
traditional basin baths. References
• Bathing without water did show a reduction in skin discoloration, erythema, and skin breakdown. El-Soussi, A., Asfour, H. (2016). Examining
• Limited evidence found to make a solid recommendation to follow with regard to policy change. (Groven, F., bed-bath practices of critically ill
Zwakhalen, S., Odekerken-Schröder, G., Joosten, E., Hamers, J., 2017) patients. Journal of Nursing Education
and Practice, 6(12), 1-11.
Groven, F., Zwakhalen, S., Odekerken-
Schröder, G., Joosten, E., Hamers, J.
(2017). How does washing without water
perform compared to the traditional bed
bath: a systematic review. BMC
Geriatrics, 17(31), 1-16.
Larson, E., Ciliberti, T., Chantler, C.,
Abraham, J., Lazaro, E., Venturanza, M.,
Pancholi, P. (2004). Comparison of
traditional and disposable bed baths in
critically ill patients. American Journal of
Critical Care, 13(3), 235-241.