Sunday, August 14, 2005

Shaving in a nursing home

It is easier to keep a man clean if he's clean-shaven, so it makes good sense to try to shave him if he'll let you. One nursing home I know of uses disposable razors to keep from spreading infections around--which also seems to make sense.

But an ill old man's face can be very craggy, and it isn't easy to avoid nicking him--and the staff sometimes do nick his face.

Suppose you use an electric razor instead, with a supply of a dozen heads and blades. After shaving one man, remove the head and blades and soak them in peroxide or ColdSpor. Or you could autoclave them, though I don't know how long they'd last.

If the noise bothers the man, you can try to mask it with music, but if that doesn't help you'll probably have to go back to using regular razors.