Foley catheter and pushing

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in L&D, PP, Nursery.

In our labor and delivery unit, we have a doc that insists that the foley remain in while pushing. We remove it for all the other docs just prior to the pt pushing. He insists that leaving it in will not cause trauma to the urethra when the pt is pushing. I find this hard to believe. What is your unit policy regarding foley removal and pushing?

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Specializes in LTC.

Wellllll...I dont work in that area but I keenly remember when I did my ob rotation I got to go in with a girl who was pushing and she had in a foley..now..this was a pretty big girl ...minus her pregnancy....and while I was holding her leg up..I noticed some blood in the tubing I told the doc to look at it and the next thing I knew he said that the urethra had trauma to it...so he cut the tubing and out came the foley. This was in the middle of her pushing. I think that every doc is different ...in any field....one does it this way..the other does it a different way and they can contradict each other. The doc I work with I can just about always predict what he will do or say...when the other one covers for him....I have no idea what he might do, say or ask. Just depends. And by the way, I have to give it to you l & d nurses....when my son was born I had some of the best nurses ever! They were so good to me, not like what I was expecting at all. I had a c section and was terrified of it. They had no idea that i was a nurse myself until the day they discharged me...one finally asked me if I was. when I told her yes...she said to me "well you sure dont act like one " and laughed. I guess she thought I was supposed to be difficult or something. I got a kick out of it though. I even had good doctors. Kudos to you my friend.

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Specializes in L&D and OB-GYN office.

Our policy (for all doc's) was to remove a Foley before the patient started pushing.

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