Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2025.047

Oral care in patients with airway management: a prospective interventional studyNursing - Original article

Simona Saibertová *, Nikol Vlachová, Andrea Pokorná
Masaryk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic

Purpose: The study aims to analyse the current nursing practice of oral care in patients with invasive airway management in intensive care units (ICU).

Methods: A prospective three-phase interventional study was conducted for five months (10/2024 to 01/2025) in the acute ICU of a regional hospital in the Czech Republic. The first phase was observation and evaluation of oral care quality (nine-criterion audit tool, including an 11-item knowledge questionnaire for healthcare professionals). The second phase included familiarisation with best-practice recommendations and an increase in knowledge (professional education, informational materials). The third phase assessed the impact of the educational intervention on the oral care and healthcare professionals' knowledge.

Results: In the first phase of the study, overall success rate of correct responses to the questionnaire was only 53.91%. In the post-intervention third phase, overall success rate of correct responses to the questionnaire was 80.73%. When comparing the results of the second phase (observation and audit) of the established criteria before and after the educational intervention, care improved in all the monitored areas (knowledge of oral care, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), patient position, pre-intervention assessment and oral cavity suction, dental care and post intervention mouth rinse, care of the tongue, palate, mucous membranes, and lip care).

Conclusion: The interventional study identified gaps in knowledge about oral care for ICU patients. Education interventions led to the improvement of the quality of oral care in ICU patients with invasive airway management across all assessed criteria.

Keywords: Healthcare professionals; Intensive care unit; Invasive airway management; Oral care
Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: July 9, 2025; Revised: August 21, 2025; Accepted: September 19, 2025; Prepublished online: October 9, 2025 

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