ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received 19 March 2014
Received in revised form 27 July 2014 Accepted 1 August 2014
Keywords:
Bed bath Cost-effectiveness Nursing
Skin damage
ABSTRACT
Background: No-rinse disposable wash gloves are increasingly implemented in health care to replace traditional soap and water bed baths without proper evaluation of (cost) effectiveness.
Objectives: To compare bed baths for effects on skin integrity and resistance against bathing and costs.
Design: Cluster randomized trial.
Setting: Fifty six nursing home wards in the Netherlands.
Participants: Five hundred adult care-dependent residents and 275 nurses from nursing home wards.
Methods: The experimental condition ‘washing without water’ consists of a bed bath with disposable wash gloves made of non-woven waffled fibers, saturated with a no-rinse, quickly vaporizing skin cleaning and caring lotion. The control condition is a traditional bed bath using soap, water, washcloths and towels. Both conditions were continued for 6 weeks.