Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan OI, Chiu STJ, Cheung SY, Lai KKD, Lai WSW, Lam CM, Woo LC, Yuen MY
Affiliation :
Medicine and Geriatric Department, Shatin Hospital
Introduction :
Using dentures is very common among older people. Good fitting dentures not only helps elderly chewing, enjoying food and ensuring intake of nutrients, but also maintaining one’s dignity by good feeling of self image. Therefore, older people always treat dentures as their individualized valuable property. Further, setting new dentures is time-consuming and high costing. If an older person losses dentures, it will have impacts on his/her physical, psychological and social aspects. There were four incidents of loss of in-patient dentures in wards from Jan,2016 to March,2018. The involved patients were cognitive impaired and functional dependent. The consequences of missing dentures were impressed. It included（1）patients and relatives dissatification, (2) staff frustration, (3)time and manpower consuming when searching missing dentures, (4) hospital liability issue.In order to prevent missing dentures for geriatric patients, a CQI program was conducted since May, 2018.
Objectives :
To prevent missing dentures for patients by redesigning work flow, documentation, education of carers and checking system.
Methodology :
A work group identified four factors causing missing dentures in March, 2018. They were (1) inadequate communication and education for storage of dentures and denture care for patients and carers,(2) inadequate communication to alert staff for the presence of patient’s dentures, (3) inadequate documentation of denture care and education in patient notes, (4) no consistent checking system for the presence of dentures for individual patient. The team members revised work flow for in patient denture care. A standardized format of bed head signage and a checking system for dentures are designed. The nurses and PCAs were educated for the redesigned work flow. Nursing documentation of denture care and education to carers was strengthened. PCAs were educated to increase their alertness for the presence of dentures by checking with bed head signage and checking list. Searching procedure implemented once reporting missing dentures.
Result & Outcome :
1. Audit for staff compliance of denture care, documentation and checking system will be conducted on 14 Jan to 27 Jan ,2019. Audit report will be available in Feb,2019.
2 The total number of missing denture incident was 1 in 2016 and 3 in 2017 while 1 incident occurred in Dec,2018 which happened seven months after CQI denture care program conducted. The work group members need to review the storage tool for dentures and consider a fixed location to place the storage tool. Therefore, the CQI program will be reviewed in order to improve the outcome in the future.
Co-location with:
