AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, May 2004, Volume 13, No. 3 235 • B A CKGR OUND For bedridden patients unable to perform personal hygiene measures because of acute illness or chronic debilitation, the bed bath, with either the traditional basin or, more recently, dispos- able baths, has long been a measure for improving hygiene and comfort. • O BJECTIVE To compare the traditional basin bed bath with a prepackaged disposable bed bath in terms of 4 outcomes: time and quality of bath, microbial counts on the skin, nurses’ satisfaction, and costs. • M ETHODS Forty patients in surgical, medical, or cardiothoracic intensive care units received both types of bath on different days. Baths were observed, timed, and scored for quality. Cultures of the peri- umbilicus and groin were obtained before and after each bath. At the end of the study, nurses were inter- viewed about their preferences. • R ESUL TS Neither total quality scores nor microbial counts differed significantly between the 2 bath types. Significantly fewer products (P <.001) and less time were used, cost was lower, and nurses’ rat- ings were significantly better with the disposable bath. • C ONCLUSION The disposable bath is a desirable form of bathing for patients who are unable to bathe themselves in critical care and long-term care settings, and it may even be preferable to the traditional basin bath. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2004;13:235-241) COMPARISON OF TRADITIONAL AND DISPOSABLE BED BATHS IN CRITICALLY ILL P ATIENTS To purchase reprints, contact The InnoVision Group, 101 Columbia, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656. Phone, (800) 809-2273 or (949) 362-2050 (ext 532); fax, (949) 362-2049; e-mail, reprints@aacn.org. By Elaine L. Larson, RN, PhD, Theresa Ciliberti, RN, BSN, Christopher Chantler, RN, BSN, Jolly Abraham, RN, MS, Editha M. Lazaro, RN, MEd, Majella Venturanza, RN, MA, CCRN, Preeti Pancholi, PhD. From Columbia University School of Nursing (ELL, TC, CC), New York Presbyterian Hospital (JA, EML, MV), and Department of Pathology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University (PP), New York, NY. F or bedridden patients unable to perform per- sonal hygiene measures because of acute ill- ness or chronic debilitation, the bed bath has long been a measure for improving hygiene and com- fort. Surprisingly, however, few studies have exam- ined the microbiological effects of bathing in general, 1 and we found only 1 study 2 in which the microbiology of bath water from a basin bath was examined. In most acute and chronic care facilities, incapacitated patients are given baths by nursing personnel on a routine basis by using a basin of warm water, soap, and washcloths. More recently, disposable baths are available from several manufacturers as prepackaged single-use units. 3 These disposable baths have been anecdotally reported to save time and to be comfortable for patients, but no systematic studies of such products have been done, and whether one type of bath is superior to the other in terms of time savings, patients’ comfort, satis- faction among nurses and patients, or skin microbiol- ogy is not known. The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional basin bath with a prepackaged disposable bath in terms of 4 outcomes: time and qual- ity of bath, microbial counts on the skin, nurses’ sat- isfaction, and costs. Mechanical friction of bathing loosens skin cells that contain bacteria, increas- ing microbial counts. by guest on November 12, 2015 ajcc.aacnjournals.org Downloaded from