Affective Factors on Oral Care and its Documentation in ICU of Hospitals Affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Oral hygiene is one of the main tasks of Intensive Care Unit’s Nurses. This study aimed to determine the affecting factors of oral cares interventions and its documentation in Kerman University of Medical Sciences intensive care units. Methods: In this cross sectional study, all the nurses of intensive care units of Kerman University of Medical1 Sciences hospitals were surveyed and 131 responded. Oral cares questionnaires, underlying factors and nursing reports assessment check list were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics and PASW 18 software. Results: Oral rinse was the most frequent method (82.4%) and the most used solution was chlorhexidine (43.2%). Documentation of oral care was done by most of the nurses but the information about used methods and outcomes were not provided. There was a direct relation between intensive care work experience (r=0.332; p<0.05) and priority of the oral care (rho=0.349, p<0.001) with oral care quality. Viewing oral care as a difficult and unpleasant task had an indirect relation with oral care (p<0.05). Conclusion: There was need for education and informing nurses about importance of the oral care and evidence-based methods of oral care.