Skin and Oral Hygiene in Aged Care

Chapter 3: Skin and Oral Hygiene

Overview:

Facilitates aged‐care nurses to become proactive in developing skin and oral care by addressing practices in:

• bathing
• moisturising the skin and oral cavity
• cleansing and debridement

Description:

Adequate skin and oral care is of extreme importance to the comfort, health and well‐being of the elderly. This chapter provides evidence‐based guidelines to ensure that appropriate oral and skin care is undertaken.

Topics:

• Introduction
• Skin damage
• Evidence-based standards in skin care
  • Evidence-based guidelines for bathing
  • Friction
  • Frequency of bathing
  • In continence
  • Contaminated equipment
  • Moisturisers
• Incontinence and moisture-related dermatitis
  • Causes
  • Barrier protectants
• Best practice in bathing
  • Microbiological concerns
  • Talcum powder
  • Basinless bathing
• Oral care
  • The importance of oral care
  • Dry mouth
  • Plaque
  • Debridement
  • Undesirable practices
  • Evidence-based oral care
• Conclusion

Speaker / Author:

Eddi Cohen

Eddi Cohen is a registered nurse and an international speaker and author who divides her time between Sydney (Australia) and Los Angeles (USA). Her wideranging interests include nosocomial infections and hygiene practices, critical care, emergency and aviation medicine, violence and aggression in health care, terrorism, disaster management, and critical incident stress. Eddi has been consulting, writing, and teaching in Australia or more than ten years. She is presently medical director of Mobile Medical Systems International (Australia) and clinical nurse consultant with EMS Network International (USA). She also serves as director of training for AIRescue International, a Los Angeles‐based air medical retrieval service.

Professional Reviews: