caths.question

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I was wondering who inserts them for the most part LPN or RN? This is my biggest fear to overcome. Just wondering how to get over the first few times you do it? After that I am sure I'll be fine. :imbar

I think we all have fears about invading a person's body, especially if we are not sure of our skill. This indicates that you are concerned about doing the right thing and are already looking out for your patients. You will learn to cath, and other things, like a pro. In our facility urinary caths are done by RN/LVN/Nurse Externs and some Techs (depending on amount/type of education they have).

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after reading some of these posts i had a dream about caths. nerves i guess. but here it is: i go in to do the cath and pull back the covers and insert the hose and leave wondering if i did it right only to be called back into the room an hour later to change the bed etc. with a room full of visitors i might add. then one of them says to me you missed the hole did ya? i stand there unable to move. i woke up laughing at myself. let's all dreams don't come true.:chuckle

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

Ok, I am soooo not getting this! :chuckle More than one hole? The other hole that I know of doesn't seem very likely to be confused with one that you put a catheter in! Are they sometimes very close together? Do they sometimes look the same? I feel so lame because I am envisioning multiple small holes to pick from! Can someone please explain this a bit more to the newbie student? You all are freaking me out!

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Read post 7 and 9 on this thread. I guess that is where my dream stemed from:rotfl:

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Ok, I am soooo not getting this! :chuckle More than one hole? The other hole that I know of doesn't seem very likely to be confused with one that you put a catheter in! Are they sometimes very close together? Do they sometimes look the same? I feel so lame because I am envisioning multiple small holes to pick from! Can someone please explain this a bit more to the newbie student? You all are freaking me out!

Sometimes, specially on older obese women, it can be very difficult to identify the meatus. You'll get the hang of it after you see, or don't see it. Yea, sometimes you can't visualize because gravity is not nice. But you'll find it, after all, how far can it "go"?

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
. And women are more difficult than men--there's a lot more frilly stuff down there than I realized! .
:rotfl: "FRILLY STUFF"! O I love it....my" frilly stuff" hehehehehee..... Another tip is look at your own "frilly stuff" to get an idea of what you'll see between other's legs....Frillies are like fingerprints and snowflakes-they are all different....In long term care we will often diagram a difficult cath-those meatus (plural for meatus-meatuseses? meatii?) often play hide and seek amomgst numerous dimples and folds....If you have a big woman or elderly person with contractures you may make out better by turning them to the side and going in from the back...to better visualize that area try laying the person on an upside down fracture bed pan....and just take a deep breath-but not to close to the frilly stuff if hygiene seems to be a problem....don't forget your miner's helmet......
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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

Ohhhhh, ok! :idea: I understand now! I might be slow, but I get there eventually! :chuckle Thanks to the both of you!

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...and don't forget those women who you actually have to point for the lady parts and up..As if it is almost in the lady parts...seriously I was never told about it in school and the first time I found one I thought the poor little old lady had a fistula...but it must be something in the water because in 7 years of nursing I've come across at least 20.

My 2 worst cath experiances were on a men believe it or not. Very enlarged hard prostate with distended bladder. Tried and Tried...thought "OH MY G*D, I am a complete incompetent." Got the smallest cath I could find. Urologist came in and asked for a 32 FR. I didn't even know they came that big!!!!! :eek: Sucker slid in with out a problem as he did this "swirling" motion. Something about spreading out the pressure causes dialation instead of spasm.

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Forgot to say what the other one was. The guy had "false channels" occording to the urologist. He ended up using guide wires and a scope and eventually OR for a superpubic cause nothing was going in there. It was sealed off tight.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

i have a problem cathing peds females (newborns to toddlers). i usually just go where i think it is, which is up high and that is usually the place, but i NEVER see the urethral opening. the ed i work in seems to cath every female baby that walks in so i really want to get good at this. can someone share a tip for cathing female peds?

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I might as well ask you guys/gals - I am having surgery and my doctor said I have to have a catheter - however, I have two options....

a)get it taken out before I wake up from surgery

or...

b)have it removed the morning after surgery (since I am staying the night) so that I dont have to get up right away and pee...

whaddya all think????

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

I'm not a nurse yet, so I can't give you that kind of advice, but I wanted to relay my own experience with surgery. I had a surgery 3 years ago. The catheter was removed before I woke up. I didn't think it would be a problem, but I simply could not void on my own and had to be recathed! It was uncomfortable and a bit embarrassing. If I had to do it again, I'd probably wait until I felt all my bodily functions returning to get it removed. :chuckle Oh, and I'm not sure if the reason I had trouble voiding was because of the type of surgery I had or not. Maybe?

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