Personal care

Personal care includes things like giving bed baths, mouth care,skin care, moving patients in bed and doing gentle exercises to help keep the patient's joints from becoming stiff.Patients receive a bedbath (a complete body wash in bed) at least once a day and whenever else needed.

Mouth care is provided every 2 to 3 hours, using soft moist sponges to clean and moisturise the mouth, and vaseline to stop the lips from cracking.The nurse will also change the position of the breathing tube in the patient's mouth to prevent it rubbing and creating a sore.

Patients are moved in bed every 3 hours or so in order to prevent bed sores.We also use special pressure relieving mattresses to prevent this happening.Gentle exercises are performed several times throughout the day to help prevent the joints from becoming stiff. This involves lifting and moving the patient's arms and legs into different positions.