Interventional Patient Hygiene Model. A critical reflection on basic nursing care in intensive care units]

Over the past 15 years, the model of medical and nursing care changed from being exclusively oriented to the diagnosis and treatment of acute illness, to the achievement of outcomes by preventing iatrogenic complications (Hospital Acquired Conditions). Nursing Sensitive Outcomes show as nursing is directly involved in the development and prevention of these complications. Many of these complications, including falls from the bed, use of restraints, urinary catheter associated urinary infections and intravascular catheter related sepsis, are related to basic nursing care. Ten years ago in critical care, a school of thought called get back to the basics, was started for the prevention of errors and risks associated with nursing. Most of these nursing practices involve hygiene and mobilization. On the basis of these reflections, Kathleen Vollman developed a model of nursing care in critical care area, defined Interventional Patient Hygiene (IPH). The IPH model provides a proactive plan of nursing interventions to strengthen the patients' through the Evidence-Based Nursing Care. The components of the model include interventions of oral hygiene, mobilization, dressing changes, urinary catheter care, management of incontinence and bed bath, hand hygiene and skin antisepsis. The implementation of IPH model follows the steps of Deming cycle, and requires a deep reflection on the priorities of nursing care in ICU, as well as the effective teaching of the importance of the basic nursing to new generations of nurses.