In 2003 Pat Boynton, APRN, CWCN, was visiting in Omaha, Nebraska, where she discovered new help for her hospital’s patients with incontinence.

"I was speaking at a pressure ulcer treatment seminar, and a representative from Sage Products Inc. also was speaking," Boynton said. The representative gave her some Comfort Shield® samples and outcomes data, which led her to conduct a three-month trial of the washcloths in her hospital from March 2003 to June 2003.

Boynton, a certified wound care nurse, directs the wound care program for Community Hospitals & Wellness Centers in Bryan, OH. She practices primarily in Bryan, the main facility in the three-hospital system that provides care for 115 acute and 22 long-term care patients. The system also includes hospitals in Archbold and Montpelier and Community Health Services, a home care unit.

"We had tried all of the popular incontinence care products to prevent skin redness, but nothing worked as consistently as Comfort Shield Perineal Care washcloths," she said. "The first thing I noticed after trying the Comfort Shield washcloths is that our patients didn’t have skin excoriation. With the washcloths, the redness either did not occur or disappeared rapidly, and patients didn’t have sore bottoms and bleeding tissue."

Comfort Shield Perineal Care washcloths with dimethicone are disposable. The cloths are pre-moistened and deliver one-step perineal cleansing, moisturizing and deodorizing—while treating and protecting skin with dimethicone.

Part of the protocol

After the three-month trial, Boynton presented the results to the hospital’s product evaluation committee to ask that the washcloths be included in the hospital’s incontinence protocol for patients because they are effective in preventing and reducing skin excoriation. She also demonstrated to the committee how the cost of the washcloths was cheaper than the barrier cream, soap and water and other items her staff had been using to treat patients. Comfort Shield washcloths proved so successful in Bryan that when the product evaluation committee approved them in June 2003, the washcloths were approved for system-wide use. They also are available in the community for commercial purchase.

"I was so positive about the product and how our continence care patients had improved," she said. She attributed the positive outcomes to Comfort Shield’s three percent dimethicone content and the all-in-one product concept.

Boynton trained the nurses on how to use the washcloths, and their reactions were very favorable. The organization has all licensed professionals, who understood why changes were being made to the hospital’s incontinence care treatment plan. The facilities have since added the Comfort Personal Cleansing® Warmer for an even better patient experience. The washcloths are contained in an insulated package that can be heated in a warmer and provide a more soothing experience.

About 25 percent of Community Hospital’s patients are incontinent. Before Comfort Shield became part of the treatment plan, nurses were using disposable wipes, soap and water and three levels of barrier creams. On occasion, nurses may still use a heavy paste on fecal and urinary incontinence patients, but this is not typical.

The nurses at Community Hospitals use the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk for assessing moisture exposure. The Braden Scale is the most commonly used pressure ulcer assessment scale in the United States.

"Because incontinence is closely aligned with skin breakdown, our bathing and cleansing interventions are part of the Braden moisture subscale," Boynton said. "Comfort Shield washcloths are listed by name in our protocol."

She added, "Our nurses are consistent in meeting our protocol, and we continue to see good results years after our initial trial." HPN

Pat Boynton heads the wound care program for Community Hospitals & Wellness Centers in Bryan, OH. She received her graduate degree from Creighton University in Omaha, where her advisor was Barbara Braden. Braden is the creator of the Braden Scale.