[Promoting the use of the nasopharyngeal airway to treat watery diarrhea].
Using the nasopharyngeal airway to promote stool drainage is currently limited in general clinical practice. This situation has led to periannal skin care administered by nursing staff not meeting patient expectations for treatment efficacy and speed of recovery. According to previous statistics, the incidence of perianal excoriation was 60.71% in critically ill patients with liquid stool. This project was designed to promote more widespread use of the nasopharyngeal airway to contain watery diarrhea and improve skin lesions. Reasons for not using the nasopharyngeal airway to promote stool drainage identified by the authors included: 1. unclear nursing standards with regard to such procedures; 2. physician resistance to the use of such and 3. lack of education programs related to such procedures. Improvement strategies included: 1. modifying nursing standards with detailed explanations and pictures; 2. earning physician acceptance of such procedures through case conference meetings in ICUs; 3. rescheduling education programs on the implementation of nasopharyngeal airway and skin care for patients with watery diarrhea and 4. establishing case management and nursing consultation systems. Results showed that use of the nasopharyngeal airway increased from an initial 60% to 100% at eight months following project implementation. The perianal excoriation rate fell from 60.71% to 0%. We found that drainage of liquid stool using the nasopharyngeal airway can reduce perianal skin complications. This project may be a valuable reference for other clinical practice to improve care quality.
Chuang
Wen-Ling
WL
Department of Nursing, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Chiang
Hui-Ying
HY
Chen
Chia-Ying
CY
Wang
Shu-Mei
SM
Ma
Shu-Ching
SC