The effect of hygienic care practices given to stroke patients on patients' vital findings

This study is a quasi-experimental study planned to evaluate the effect of hygienic care practices given to stroke patients on patients' vital signs. The population of the study consisted of stroke patients (n=90) who were treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Şanlıurfa Mehmet Akif İnan Training and Research Hospital Haliliye Annex Building. Patients who agreed to participate in the study and gave their consent between October 1, 2021 and January 1, 2022 were included in the sampling. In this study, which consisted of fully dependent patients with a diagnosis of stroke who were connected to mechanical ventilators, one (1) bed bath and two (2) wipe baths were given on 3 different days. The patient's vital signs and arterial blood gas values; bed bath and wipe were measured 5 minutes before, 5 minutes after, 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes after bathing. "Data Collection Form and Vital Signs Registration Form" were used to collect these data. The mean age of the patients was 64.2±14.8 years and the majority (55.5%) were male. The mean weight of the patients was 79.9 kg. While 30% of the patients have hypertension, 21.8% have diabetes. It was determined that the majority of the patients (58.8%) used drugs. It was found that 30% of the patients had at least one previous operation. It was determined that 40% of the patients were smokers. When the pulse, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and body temperature values evaluated before and after the bed bath applied to the patients were compared, the values 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the bath were found to be statistically different from each other (p<0.001). When the pulse, diastolic blood pressure and body temperature values evaluated before and after the wiping bath applied to the patients on the 2nd and 3rd days were compared, it was found that the values 5 minutes before the wiping bath and 10 minutes after the wiping bath were statistically different from each other (p<0.001). The systolic blood pressure values 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the wiping bath applied to the patients on the 3rd day were found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). According to the results of our study; The hygienic care practices given to stroke patients show that they have a positive effect on the vital signs of the patients and make the patients comfortable. Keywords: Personal hygiene, bed bath, wiping bath, nursing care, stroke, vital signs