Basic Nursing Care Provided by the Nurse Aide
Personal care principles
Provide privacy, explain each step, keep the resident covered, and work from clean to dirty. In a bed bath, wash the face with water only, clean the eyes from inner to outer corner, and save the perineal area for last. Clean the perineal area front to back. For oral care on an unconscious resident, turn them to the side, have suction ready, and do not put fluids in the mouth. Clean dentures over a basin lined with a towel, store them in a labeled cup of water, and never use hot water.
Bed making and linens
Hold soiled linens away from your body, never shake them, never place them on the floor, and put them directly in the hamper. Clean linen also never touches the floor.
Vital signs
Know normal adult ranges: oral temperature roughly 97.6-99.6 degrees F; pulse 60-100 beats per minute; respirations 12-20 per minute; blood pressure under 120/80; oxygen saturation 95-100 percent. Count respirations without announcing it. Report values outside the resident's usual range.
Measuring and specimens
Record intake and output in milliliters, read urine in the graduate at eye level, and note color and odor. Keep catheter bags below the bladder and off the floor. For a clean-catch urine specimen, cleanse front to back, collect midstream, label, and send promptly.
Documentation
Chart only what you did and observed, objectively, in black ink, with time, signature, and title. Correct errors with a single line and initials - no erasures or correction fluid. Chart after care, not before.
Traps
Answers offering opinions ("resident seemed unhappy"), estimates ("about 200 mL"), or charting before the task are wrong. Never chart for another person.
Rule of thumb
If you did not do it, see it, or measure it, do not chart it - and anything abnormal goes to the nurse promptly.