Oral Care Visual Cue and Education to Improve Oral Care Compliance

Authors

• Samuel Lico, Corewell Health East

Files

Keywords

cardiovascular, surgical, interventions

Disciplines

Nursing

Description

2-East is a Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care Unit (CVSICU), that specializes in the care of patients requiring cardiovascular surgical interventions, in addition to patients requiring general surgical interventions. With the primary patient population under-going open-heart surgeries, many of these patients come back to the CVSICU on ventilator support. With many surgical patients requiring prolonged ventilator support, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious complication that can occur in critically-ill patients as a result ofpoor oral hygiene. Although not all patients require ventilator support, patients in this setting are often incapable of performing their own oral care and are dependent on nurses for their oral care needs. Our current unit practices require oral care with chlorhexidine once a shift and every two to four hours after that, or as needed. However, with the high acuity of our patient population and busy workloads, nurses often forget to stay on top of oral care practices. Therefore, implementing a visual cue reminder with education to be posted in patient rooms, above oral-care kits, can help narrow this gap in practice.

Publication Date

5-6-2026

Recommended Citation

Lico S. Oral care visual cue and education to improve oral care compliance. Presented at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital; 2026 May 6-12; Royal Oak, MI.

Comments

Nurses Week at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Royal Oak, MI, May 6-12, 2026.