Due to the labour intensive nature of the ICU
patient bed-bath, coordination of staff to assist
with equipment holding for patient safety (e.g.
the endotracheal tube, central venous line, etc.)
and physically turning the patient has a significant
impact on dictating both timing and frequency of
the procedure. In two of the ICUs in this study more
patient care assistants (non-nursing staff to assist
with physically turning the patient) were allocated
to the late afternoon/early evening time period
to assist with the patient routine bed-bath. However,
in the other two ICUs the workflow demands
of a morning with medical rounds, physiotherapy,
radiology and other procedures and treatments
necessitated the patient bed-bath be performed
earlier (i.e. 02.00—06.00). Participants in these
units identified that there are insufficient patient
care assistants to assist with the bed-bath in the
late afternoon or early evening.
The majority of patient bed-baths in this study
were performed with soap or liquid soap and a
basin of water despite disposable pre-packaged
washcloths being available in three research sites.
Recent evidence demonstrates that basins are a
reservoir for many bacteria and could transmit
hospital-acquired infections especially in the case
of immunocompromised and severely ill patients.9
There is a need for further research on the efficacy of disposable bed-bath products such as
pre-packaged cloths.5