I was once told true story by a nurse, who arrived on ward where they only used plastic cups. Now I don’t know if you have ever had a cuppa from plastic cup but it’s not great. Now, if patients can’t use an ordinary cup, or have little strength then plastic might have a place 1/n
2/n When that nurse, being slightly puzzled, asked why this was the case she was told ‘Once’ a patient threw a pot cup and a nurse and hurt them, so, as a result ‘Everyone’ gets plastic.
3/n I call this nonsense. If you think a patient might sling a cup at you, by all means give them a plastic cup, better still melamine as it’s nicer to drink from, but not everyone. It’s called individualised care.
4/n Well today I think a similar rule is being applied to mouth care in some places….
5/n As far as I’m concerned mouth care is essential. It’s so so important in all situations but especially at end of life. Just because someone is dying it doesn’t mean that a moist comfortable mouth should be a care goal
6/n It’s not easy. For example Aunty june was mouth breathing hard got about 8 days. And for the last 3 days she couldn’t tolerate even tiny amounts of water orally
7/n Her mouth was a mess. The care home staff didn’t know what to do. I asked gor a mouth pack and they don’t have them. I didn’t understand why. And this is where the story is similar to the cup story
8/n I think it’s highly likely that at some point a batch of little pink mouth sponges were faulty and the sponges were coming off. So, I think someone made the decision that we couldn’t use them any more
9/n Snd in some places that mean no facilities for mouth care. As patients become more unwell the easier approaches - sips of water - get harder to do. And so, in some places they have no other ways to do anything
10/n Aunty Junes mouth was a mess. I can’t think about the end of her life without seeing her mouth. Similarly Vaseline, apparently is a fire risk with O2 so it’s banned. Even tho there is no O2 at the home, and no alternatives
11/n and it wasn’t just the care staff in the home. The DNs too ignored her mouth. They came in administered drugs and left. They never said ‘How are you doing with mouth care?’ Even though by then Aunty June looked like the figure in the picture ‘The Scream’
11/n It’s too late but if I can do anything positive from this I want to RAISE AGAIN the vital importance of mouth care. I will retweet some resources about mouthcare that people have sent me. It’s such important work.
12/end Mouthcare is not a lowly simple task. It is at the core of nursing practice and skill. Please please if you are a nurse go and look at what happens where you are and see if you can make things better. Please. It could be your Aunty June
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