A nursing home should offer residents the necessary assistance and services to maintain good personal hygiene. This includes bathing, grooming, oral hygiene, incontinence care and changing bed linens and clothing. A resident should be clean and live in a healthy environment.
Here is why personal hygiene in a nursing home matters:
Maintains residents’ physical health
Personal hygiene reduces pathogens. Since many seniors often have a weakened immune system, they are highly susceptible to pathogens. Bathing, consistently washing hands, sterilizing equipment, regularly changing clothes and bed linens and effective incontinence care prevent the spread of germs.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are most commonly reported in nursing homes. These infections typically stem from a lack of personal hygiene, including infrequent changes of soiled diapers, unsanitary bedding, inadequate cleaning and improper toilet assistance.
Another way personal hygiene protects physical health is by maintaining skin integrity. Bathing, moisturizing the skin and hydration protect the skin, reducing the risk of skin conditions.
Maintains a resident’s dignity
Maintaining one’s dignity in a nursing home is crucial. One feels valued when they are in clean clothes, they have fresh bed linens and towels, their teeth are brushed and so forth. However, this can be threatened when their personal hygiene is ignored or when privacy is not observed when offering assistance.
The inability to maintain personal hygiene can strip one’s independence. This can in itself affect their mental health. So, adding a lack of assistance can substantially impact someone’s self-esteem, resulting in social withdrawal and other mental health issues.
Visiting a loved one in a nursing home only to realize they are not getting the help they need with daily activities can be heartbreaking. If this happened to your family, consider legal guidance to determine if the nursing home acted negligently and to understand your options.