Sterile Warm Wet Compresses

Abstract

Do we need research to provide us with some basic principles in applying warm wet compresses that are sterile and that stay warm? Are our present techniques adequate or do we continue to use them because is the way we do it? The Journal editors sent questionnaires asking about present practices to nurses in 16 hospitals with bed capacities varying from 120 to 906 beds. We thank the directors of nursing, or their associates, of the 11 hospitals who returned the questionnaires. The material was used as a basis of determining how procedures are being carried out. We asked an experienced nurse to review the answers; then to describe, evaluate, and in some instances criticize existing practices and, where necessary, to raise serious questions about their soundness. The Journal editors and the author recognize that this is a small study, based on answers from a questionnaire sent to hospitals of varying sizes and different geographic locations in the country. We hope it encourages more detailed study of the problem by nurses. The article is not a report of the study; rather it is concerned with the implications for nursing service.