Determining the opinions, practices and problems of nurses caring for intubated intensive care patients regarding oral care

Aim: In this research; It was aimed to determine the views, practices and problems of the nurses who care for intubated intensive care patients about oral care. Material and Method: This study was conducted as a descriptive study with 154 nurses working in the adult intensive care units of İnönü University Turgut Özal Medical Center and agreed to participate in the study. Study data were collected with "Descriptive Characteristics Form", "Oral Care Applications Evaluation Form", "Oral Care Problems Encountered Form" and "Innovation Evaluation Form". Results: It was determined that 50.0% of the nurses were women, they cared for an average of 2 patients a day and they evaluated their workload as excessive, the mean age was 28.7±4.1 years, and the duration of working in the intensive care unit was 3.9±3.4 years. It was determined that 39.6% of them evaluated their mouth 3 times a day, 30.5% of them did 4 or more oral cares a day, 65.8% of them used abeslang as a tool and 68.5% of them used sodium bicarbonate as a solution. It was determined that 43.5% of them used airway to provide oral patency and they had many obstacles or problems while giving oral care to intubated patients. It was determined that there was a significant difference between nurses' gender, age, working time in the profession, receiving oral care education and some disability and problems scores (p˂0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that nurses working in the intensive care unit experienced many obstacles or problems in oral care practices for intubated patients, and there was a significant difference between these obstacles and problems and some occupational and socio-demographic characteristics scores. Keywords: Oral Care, Intubated Patient, Nurse, Intensive Care Unit