I know this subject may sound like a trivial irritation rather than a life threatening issue but I suspect many people may have things to say about it.
I have found it surprisingly difficult to keep my hair washed and cut, my teeth brushed and my finger and toe nails clean and trimmed., while in any sort of hospital. There have been times when the state of my hair and toes have really bugged me,
.I left icu with greasy hair, and nails like talons, and i often have to turn assertiveness up to 11 to be able to brush my teeth twice a day.. Washing hands before meals is also surprisingly difficult, despite covid-inspired hand washing rules..
Has anyone else had similar.ar experiences, or are other hospials better at these sort of thing?
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Kit10
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We are in the US . My adult son spent 7 weeks in hospital, most in ICU . No staff member ever offered to help him bathe or brush his teeth- or even checked to see that it was done. All they did was drop off linens and mouthwash. Maybe they assumed family would do it but I am not sure an adult man would want his mother bathing him if there was another option . One nice nurse did however shave his head when he only had a few tufts of hair left. We were so grateful to him for that. It made my son look so much better- like a 34 year old guy rather than a patient. I was trained an an RN 45 years ago and we were trained to make sure every patient had a bath every day. I guess that fell by the wayside. Rather sad. They did a good job with the medical care/ meds/ treatments though and that’s quite important!
It is possible to wash patients’ hair when they are on a ventilator in ICU and brushing teeth is an important part of mouth care. Similarly it’s important to shave male patients if they are normally clean shaven. That you have had this struggle makes me very sad. Nursing is a caring profession and ICU is no different from that. It’s not just the high technology nursing, it’s the total care of the patient that draws people into ICU nursing. All I can say is that there are ICUs where personal care is taken seriously. If you follow ICUsteps on twitter you will see examples of this posted there.
It was the nails for me. The nurses were not allowed to cut nails, so mine grew and grew, and then one of the nurses bought me some nail clippers and I was able to do them.One nurse did give me a shave, but it was not until I had recovered a bit could I do this myself and clean my teeth.
What parent would not cut their child's toenails? How hard can it be?
In an environment where patients have needles regularly stuck in them and tubes in every bodily orifice, and some made for the purpose, why is there so much fear of cutting nails? If you'd make a hole in my throat and stick a tube down it, why not at least file my nails?
I know there are dangers with minor cuts in diabetic patients but not everyone is diabetic.
And another ... at the risk of mentioning a tabbo subject ...
If it's important to shave beardless male patients, what about preserving the dignity of female patients with body hair they'd rather not have?
In ICU I understand that the nurses kept my teeth cleaned and my hair washed on a regular basis, not that I would have known as I was in a coma, but my Mum noticed things like this. My now husband made sure I had nail files in my washbag as I have long nails on my hands and an assistant did my feet for me as I couldn't. When I left ICU and was moved to a different specialist ward, I still got to have showers and a nurse helped me wash and dry my hair as I couldn't at the time.
We were actively encouraged to clean our teeth twice a day and if we struggled then we were helped. This was before the current pandemic so I don't know what it is like now.
I never even thought of my nails, but I didn't notice them being long, so somebody must have cut them. I would have thought they would do that to make sure you don't scratch yourself.
I did have the stupid mitts on for a while when I woke up though, as I was desperate to escape. Probably a good thing.
As for my hair, yes it was filthy and having that first shower was great, even though I wasn't able to do it standing up at the time. I didn't care. I felt so much better afterwards.
And yes, I woke up with a full beard, something I've never had before. Combined with my drawn-in face due to weight loss, the tramlines on my arms and neck and the fact that it was a very unkempt beard, I looked a real mess. But I personally wouldn't want them wasting their time on shaving me when they could be doing something more important.
It was nice when my wife brought my electric razor though and I shaved it off. Well, I say nice, it was not an easy task, but I got there in the end and felt much better for it. All part of the progress of getting out of there.
Oh yes, i forgot about the nails and hair. After reading your post, the same was with me. I was in a coma from covid for 15 days, omg, my nails looked like they had dipped them in betadine, they were orangey brown in colour and long as. Really disgusting. First thing i remember telling my husband was for a nail clipper, i cut my own nails after being in the ward for about 3 days. I never remember anyone taking me for a proper shower, i did it myself on the 3rd day in the ward. And my hair, of which was very long, past my knees, had been plaited at the start of my hospital stay and had become so matted, i couldn't undo it or wash it, until i got home and it took my daughter about 3 days to slowly brush sections of it. I suppose keeping me alive and then rehabilitation was the priority. I would have loved someone to have washed my hair and cut my nails. I was so weak after icu, but, one day i insisted i needed to shower myself. I sat in the shower chair and let the water run over me and attempted to wash my hair, climbed back into my hospital bed with dripping wet hair, not one nurse bothered to offer to dry it . Shame, we only think of these things after we get home. Personal care really plays a lot in mental health. If we look good and smell good after being in hospital for a long time, we feel better thus aiding in our recovery.
The same here, 44days in ICU, my foot skin was so thick it looked yellow like if I had fungal infection. It just needed a soak. Not done in hospital. Also they tore a tendon when they tried to pull off a wet compression sock of my ankle. Not shaved or hair cut. Black teeth I never had black staining on my teeth before. Horrible just horrible. My legs were peeling flaking skin 2weeks after too. I don’t think I received the care I hoped I receive
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