Standardized Oral Care Regimen

Project Abstract

-Purpose/goal statement: In medical surgical hospitalized patients, how does nursing staff education on the importance of a standardized oral care regimen in the prevention of non-ventilator hospital acquired pneumonia, compared to no oral care education, affect the documentation rates of oral care in a 23-day period?

-Relevance to conference themes and objectives: Oral care is considered a routine part of daily care for patients in acute care settings. However, education and implementation of standardized oral care regimens can be lacking (Lounsbury & Munro, 2020). Additionally, documentation of oral care is often overlooked and omitted in the acute care environment (Meehan & McKenna, 2020). This is an issue for hospitalized adults and may lead to poor outcomes, such as non-ventilator hospital acquired pneumonia (Giuliano et al., 2021). Nursing staff should be educated about the importance of oral care and have standardized oral care regimens.

Giuliano, K. K., Penoyer, D., Middleton, A., & Baker, D. (2021). Original research: Oral care as prevention for nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia a four-unit cluster randomized study. American Journal of Nursing, 121(6), 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000753468.99321.93

Lounsbury, O. & Munro, S. (2020). Oral care for non-ventilator associated hospital-acquired pneumonia prophylaxis: Optimizing clinical outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Patient Safety, 2(4), 78-81. https://doi.org/10.33940/U.S.%20Department%20of%20Veterans%20Affairs

Meehan, C. D. & McKenna, C. (2020). Preventing hospital acquired pneumonia implementing a fundamental nursing skills bundle can reduce risk. American Nurse Journal, 15(2).

-Methods, Results, and Recommendations:

Methods:

A total of eleven nurses and patient care assistants on a medical-surgical floor in a Kentucky hospital attended a 10-minute face-to-face educational session about the importance of oral care in preventing non-ventilator hospital acquired pneumonia. The significance of having a standardized oral care regimen with patients brushing their teeth three times per day was also included. The documentation of oral care in the electronic charting system, which included brushing teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste, was assessed for 23 days after the educational session.

Results:

Of the total 474 patients during the project implementation, 210 patients had oral care documented. A two proportions z-test was conducted to assess whether there was a significant difference between the proportions of oral care documentation rates before and after the oral care educational session. It showed that the results were statistically significant.

Recommendations:

An implication for nursing practice is to have a standardized oral care regimen with a pre-educational session on the importance of oral care in non-ventilated hospitalized patients. Having oral care completed twice per day may help increase compliance due to the nursing staff’s busy schedule. Furthermore, daily task reminders of completing and documenting oral care should be included in the electronic charting system to help with consistency.

Conference

Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse-Midwives 35th Annual Coalition Conference

April 25-28, 2023; poster presentation is April 26, 2023

Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse-Midwives

https://www.kcnpnm.org/page/conference

Funding Type

Travel Grant

Academic College

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Area/Major/Minor

Family Nurse Practitioner

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Classification

Graduate

Name

Dr. Jennifer Rogers

Academic College

School of Nursing and Health Professions

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