In nursing, quite a few actions are performed that are actually of little use, such as keeping patients sober. Or even harmful, such as shaving before surgery. So why are these rituals still performed?
When you are in need of help, you have to deal with the nurse or carer the most. And their share in health care is increasing with an aging population. So you can hope that their knowledge about illness is correct. However, this does not always appear to be the case. Nurses often perform actions that are the result of experience, but that are not useful according to science.
The National Expertise Center for Nursing and Care (LEVV) has listed these pointless rituals. They hope this will teach nurses and care providers more efficient methods, so that money and time are saved in the care sector.
Which actions are involved?
So there are a number of operations that you will no longer encounter in the future. Shaving before surgery does not reduce infections. And it is not always necessary to fast from 0:00 am on the day of the operation. Disinfecting the skin before an injection also appears to provide no health benefit. Furthermore, patients are sometimes placed on a sheepskin and their heels and elbows are wrapped with oily cotton wool to prevent bedsores. Their skin is preventively blow-dried or cooled with ice. This has never been found to help prevent bedsores. However, patients can be injured by the heat from the hair dryer.
People who are thought to be likely to fall are tied to their beds at night. Yet it has been shown that if nurses stop doing this, more people will not fall. In mental health, nurses don’t always have a choice, yet patients are more likely to be restrained or segregated than allowed by law.
So stop?
With this report, the LEFV has taken the first step to prevent meaningless rituals. But it may be a while before they are really no longer used. After all, this is about routine. It can therefore take a while before all nurses and carers know that it is better not to perform these actions.
The full report can be found at the website of the LEFV.
Download the report