What Are the Best Practices for Cleaning the Female Perineal Area
- Wash and dry your hands. Discard the paper towel into the trash.
- Remove the bed covers, but keep the patient warm with a blanket.
- Wash and dry your hands.
- Put on your disposable gloves.
- Place the bed protector under the patient’s thighs to keep the bed dry.
- Over your dominant hand, fold a washcloth into a mitt and squeeze it in the warm soapy water.
- For the female, separate the labia – the folds of skin surrounding the vulva.
- Clean one side of the labia with the warm, soapy mitt, stroking from top to bottom.
- Squeeze the mitt in the soap solution and clean the other side.
- Squeeze the mitt in the soap solution and clean the first 4 inches of the catheter.
- Discard the mitt and dry the vulva and catheter with a clean towel.
- To make the patient more comfortable, the perineum and anus can now be cleaned.
- Use the second washcloth as a mitt, and wash from top to bottom, taking great care not to touch the previously washed areas and the catheter or tubes.
- Dry the area carefully with the towel, again avoiding the previously washed areas.
- Remove the bed protector.
- Check that the catheter and tubes are correctly placed.
- Remove your gloves and discard them into the plastic storage bag.
- Replace the bed covers.
- Take the equipment tray into the bathroom, place the washcloths and towel into the washer, seal the plastic bag, and discard it into the trash.
- Clean the basin, which held the warm soapy water, and dry it with a paper towel.
- Wash and dry the bed protector.
- Wash and dry your hands.
Once each day, or according to your doctor’s instructions, you will need to clean the urethral meatus – the opening where the catheter enters the body.
The procedure to do this is as follows:
Wash and dry your hands. Discard the paper towel into the trash.
On a tray covered with paper towels, assemble the following equipment:
- a pair of disposable gloves,
- a bed protector,
- a sealable plastic storage bag,
- a basin of warm water with a pump of liquid soap in it,
- (2) clean washcloths and a clean hand towel.
Place the equipment tray on a stable surface adjacent to the bed.
Remove the bed covers, but keep the patient warm with a blanket.
Wash and dry your hands.
Put on your disposable gloves.
Place the bed protector under the patient’s thighs to keep the bed dry.
Over your dominant hand, fold a washcloth into a mitt and squeeze it in the warm soapy water.
For the female, separate the labia – the folds of skin surrounding the vulva.
Clean one side of the labia with the warm, soapy mitt, stroking from top to bottom.
Squeeze the mitt in the soap solution and clean the other side.
Squeeze the mitt in the soap solution and clean the first 4 inches of the catheter.
Discard the mitt and dry the vulva and catheter with a clean towel.
To make the patient more comfortable, the perineum and anus can now be cleaned.
Use the second washcloth as a mitt, wash from top to bottom taking great care not to touch the previously washed areas and the catheter or tubes.
Dry the area carefully with the towel, again avoiding the previously washed areas.
Remove the bed protector.
Check that the catheter and tubes are correctly placed.
Remove your gloves and discard them into the plastic storage bag. Replace the bed covers.
Take the equipment tray into the bathroom, place the washcloths and towel into the washer,
seal the plastic bag and discard it into the trash.
Clean the basin, which held the warm soapy water, and dry it with a paper towel.
Wash and dry the bed protector. Wash and dry your hands.
