Bed Bathing: Special Considerations (Nursing)

00:04 Let's look at a few things to consider when we're talking about a bed bath for our client.

00:08 Now we've talked about this before about how important drying can be, but actually, drying skin folds to prevent skin breakdown is crucial.

00:17 So many times we don't think about the excess moisture that gets in the patient's skinfolds.

00:22 If that stays there, we don't dry thoroughly, that skin can get really red, chaffed, and what we called excoriated and this is not helpful to our clients.

00:31 Now many times we're in there and we're working with our patient and we lower the bedrails, so don't forget to make sure you raise those as a safety precaution before we leave the room.

00:43 Now, we talked about this earlier as well, but as much as the patient can do for themselves, definitely let them do that, especially the head, the neck, their hands, and especially the groin region as well.

00:56 Sometimes the patient may be embarrassed if us, as the nurse, are helping to assist with the bed bath, and if they can do that themselves, please try to encourage independence.

01:05 And while you're doing this, this can be a little anxiety feeling and a little uncomfortable getting a bed bath from someone else, so please make sure you're talking through the client and making therapeutic communication while doing the procedure.