Study of the Safety of Nursing Skill Relating to Hot Water Bottles

－Survey on the Use of Hot Water Bottles and Burn Accidents in the Clinical Setting－

Abstract

　The aim of this research is to reassess nursing skill relating to hot water bottles and the contents of nursing skills education from the viewpoint of safety from the results of a fact-finding survey of the status of use of hot water bottles in the clinical setting and accidents involving burns caused by the use of hot water bottles. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 838 nurses employed at 419 hospitals (2 nurses from each hospital), and valid replies were obtained from 509 nurses (effective response rate : 60.7%). The following findings were obtained as a result of analyzing that data.

　A total of 129 accidents involving burns caused by hot water bottles occurred in the wards where the nurses were stationed over the past five years. The cause of the accidents most frequently indicated in the questionnaires was direct contact with the hot water bottle even though it had been applied at a distance from the body. 363 nurses (92.6%) were found to not measure the temperature of the hot water used when preparing the hot water bottles, and some nurses replied that they use hot water prepared by diluting boiling water with a small amount of cold water. 40 of the nurses (10.2%) replied that they do not observe the patient after the hot water bottle has been applied. It was therefore suggested that it is necessary to reassess such factors as the manner in which hot water bottles are applied so that safety can be ensured even if there is contact with the body, and the amount of time and frequencies during which patients should be monitored following placement of a hot water bottle in order to prevent burn accidents caused by hot water bottles.