Oral Care Considerations for the non-mechanically ventilated patient

DID YOU KNOW?

ORAL AND SYSTEMIC HEALTH

The oral cavity and systemic health: chronic inflammation & medical conditions such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases Scannapieco & Cantos, 2016).

Barbara Quinn, RN: “Oral care is not the only risk factor, obviously, but it is the only one that every single patient has when they are in the hospital” (Hospital Infection Control & Prevention, 2018).

Hello! Can you remember being hospitalized and have routine oral care provided for you? If you were unable to get to a sink, could you have brushed your teeth?

A study by Dr. Shannon Munro indicated that lack of provision of oral care was associated with hospital-acquired pneumonia leading to increased length of stay, increased cost, and poor patient outcomes including death.

Munro, S., & Baker, D. (2018). Reducing missed oral care opportunities to prevent non-ventilator associated hospital acquired pneumonia at the department of Veterans Affairs. Applied Nursing Research, 44, 48-53.).

This is not merely a concern for elderly and frail patients as young patients are impacted negatively as well!

Kerri