Authors (including presenting author) :
WYW WONG1, KL PUN2, MFM CHAN2
Affiliation :
1. Quality and Safety Office, Tung Wah Eastern Hospital
2. Nursing Services Division, Tung Wah Eastern Hospital
Introduction :
The loss of dentures for inpatients can have a detrimental effect on their well-being. Self-respect and dignity become compromised along with their ability to eat meals and communicate clearly, and long-term recovery. Denture care including safe storage and denture labelling to help prevent accidental loss is an important part of patient care.
Objectives :
To review root cause of denture loss incidents and improve storage of in-patient dentures.
Methodology :
Information on dentures which were lost was collected in a rehabilitation hospital. The number of losses and the reason for the loss was analysed. Incidents were shared in various platforms to increase staff awareness on the importance of safe denture handling, proper documentation and communication especially during transfer across units/institutions. On-site interview and online survey were performed to 30 nursing staff for possible improvement measures.
Result & Outcome :
In total, 2 dentures were reported as lost in the previous three year due ineffective communication between staff and also mistaken as rubbish. These are also common reasons for loss in local hospitals and worldwide. A new transparent denture containers was implemented in August to December 2022 to replace the current opaque denture containers. 500 new containers were sent for pilot use in ten rehabilitation wards. Staff reported positive feedback on the new containers especially this allowed dentures to be clearly seen by supporting staff, patient and relatives, preventing it to be mistakenly discarded as rubbish. Suggestions for further improvement included a sturdier material, hinged design and increased depth for denture soaking were received. Further work is to be undertaken on improvement on the denture container and the development of a structured denture handling workflow.
