Investigating the Effect of Oral Care Frequency on Oral Mucosal Tissue Integrity in Critically Ill Patients.

Research data will be collected from the Adult Intensive Care Units of Balıkesir University Health Practice and Research Hospital. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria will be informed about the research, and those who volunteer to participate, or their relatives, will provide written/verbal consent using an Informed Consent Form. The assignment of patients to different groups will be determined using simple randomization on the randomizer.org website. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit at the start of the study will be assigned to control and intervention groups according to the numbers on the randomizer.org website. Oral care swabs will be prepared for each patient in both the control and intervention groups, with four swabs per patient, moistened with a 0.25% chlorhexidine gluconate solution. If the patient is conscious, they will be placed in a comfortable position; if unconscious, their head will be positioned sideways towards the person performing the procedure. Oral care will be performed on the patient, covering all teeth, inner cheeks, under the tongue, gums, and other soft tissues. After the patient's oral care procedure is complete, the patient will be returned to their original position, and the procedure will be finished. Each care session will last at least 2 minutes. Patients in the control group will receive oral care four times a day, every six hours. Patients in the intervention group will receive oral care at a frequency determined individually based on their scores on the intensive care oral care frequency assessment scale. Patients in both groups will be evaluated at the beginning and throughout the intervention using the oral mucosa assessment scale to assess the effect of the oral care on the oral mucosa. The intervention is planned to continue for five days, and the results will be recorded.