Educational Intervintion in a Nursing Team on Oral Hygiene of Critically Ill Patientes in an Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a type of recurrent infection in critical patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and has high morbidity and mortality rates. Its pathogenesis results from the introduction of oral microbiota bacilli passed from the orotracqueal tube to the lower respiratory tract, functioning as a potential reservoir of infectious material. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge of an ICU nursing team on oral hygiene (OH) in critically ill patients under hospitalization and, from the data obtained, to elaborate an informative material on the main issues pointed out. It is an exploratory, descriptive and quantitative study carried out in two stages: the application of a questionnaire to analyze the team’s knowledge on oral hygiene methods as a measure of disease prevention; and the preparation of an educational booklet with approaches on the subject in order to inform and update the participants. We counted with the collaboration of 65 professionals, mostly female and aged between 31-40 years. As for oral hygiene in patients under mechanical ventilation, most of the participants answered that they had not received information on the subject during professional training, as well as not having knowledge of the protocol for these procedures in the institution they were working. All of them agreed that oral hygiene is important in critically ill patients. However, the majority did not associate it with the prevention of VAP. Thus, the implementation and supervision of interdisciplinary actions to promote oral health in critically ill patients under hospitalization is capable of promoting a standardized conduct, as well as better care for the individual admitted in the ICU.

Keywords

• ventilator-associated pneumonia
• intensive care unit
• patient care team
• oral hygiene
• health education