Personal Care Skills
What the exam expects you to know
Personal care includes bathing, oral care, denture care, grooming, shaving, nail care, perineal care, dressing, toileting, and skin inspection. The core principles are privacy, dignity, safety, and independence: close the door and curtain, drape the resident, explain each step, and let the resident do whatever they can do for themselves.
Know the practical details that questions target. Check bath water temperature (about 105 °F) and never leave a resident alone in a tub or shower; lock brakes and use non-skid surfaces. Wash the eyes from the inner corner outward, using a clean part of the cloth for each eye. Provide oral care for an unconscious resident by turning the head to the side with suction or a basin ready, and no fluids. Brush dentures over a basin lined with a towel so they do not break, use cool or lukewarm water because hot water warps them, and store them in a labeled cup. Clean the perineal area front to back, rinse, dry, and look at the skin while you are there. When dressing, dress the weak or affected side first and undress that side last.
Traps built into questions
Trap answers include hot water, front-to-back reversed perineal care, forcing care on a refusing resident, and trimming the nails of a resident with diabetes or poor circulation, which is usually the nurse's or podiatrist's job. Another trap is shaving a resident who takes blood thinners with a blade razor; use an electric razor per facility policy.
Worked example
A resident with right-sided weakness after a stroke is getting dressed. You put the shirt sleeve on the right arm first, then the left, and reverse the order when undressing.