Intensive care nurses′ opinions and practice for oral care of mechanically ventilated patients

Abstract

Context: Oral care is an essential aspect of critical care nursing. However, no study has been published on oral care practice of Iranian and Asian nurses. The majority of published studies were conducted in western and European countries. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the nurses′ opinions and practice about oral care in patients under mechanical ventilation. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 130 intensive care nurses from 6 intensive care units in the university hospitals of Iran. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was used to gather the data and charts of 45 patients were evaluated. Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistical analysis are presented. Results: Oral care obtained the 7 th rank in prority and a mean score of 5.7 on a scale of 1-10. More than 21% of subjects did not perform oral care in their usual duties. High load of writing tasks and personnel shortages were the major barriers to oral care. Only 20% of the patients′ charts contained a report on oral care. Conclusions: Nurses did not consider oral care in intensive care patients as a high priority. This result highlights the need to continue education programs on oral care for improving the knowledge and attitude of intensive care nurses with respect to oral care.