OB Nurses....Question For Ya

the foley's only remain until a patient can ambulate and take PO fluids.

usually this is less than 2-3 hours post-delivery, but if an epidural is particularly dense, it may be 4 or more hours. It depends on patient and the anesthesiologist's epidural. Some are more dense than others.

Well our epidural rates are through the roof, and therefore foleys are warranted and used often. I guess it's a difference of frequency and timing. If our epidural rates were lower and they were done later in labor, I would not place a foley either.

Sigh, where did I say we do epidurals on NON-active labor patients? Labor can be quite protracted, as you know, especially in inductions and primip cases.

So sue me or shoot me; I can't see straight-cathing people over and over after hours of labor when a foley will do the trick with less chance of infection and trauma of repeated instrumentation of the urethra.

Differences exist in many places; let's just leave it at that--- In a perfect world we would all have it like where you are, no one getting epidurals til later in labor and rarely getting them at all at that! Even better, they would all give birth drug-free and interventions (like caths) would be virtually non-existant.

Sadly, I live a long way from "Perfect". So, yes, It varies, and where we work (which apparently differs from where you are) epidurals are very common (despite childbirth and lamaze classes), tending to run over hours, requiring bladder hygiene, simple as that.

That is the beauty of these threads; we get to learn from others what practices are common and what are not and compare notes. Does not make others "wrong" necessarily, but doing it differently, with the hopefully same good outcomes. Have good day now.

What's phenergan?

One thing I've learned moving from hospital to hospital is that everyone does things differently and almost universally are convinced that their way is the right way. I am the reed bending with the wind....ohm.....ohm.....

That is so true Fergus . . . one of our nurses recently left and moved to the big city and is working in a large ER. I saw her today and she told me that they do so many thing different there. As an example, the triage nurse of course triages the pts for order in which to be seen. Then each nurse has four beds. They wait until the doctor is actually assessing the patient before taking vitals or a history. At our ER we take vitals, take a history, I do an assessment and then I call the doc. Unless it is an emergency - then I call him but we still start vitals, draw blood, start an EKG, etc. It is just funny how a nurse will wait to do vitals and assessment until the doc arrives.

I'll wager to bet we would be amazed at the differences in practice.


steph