Curious about catheters

Llawver · Nov 20, 2012

You'll practice on a SIM man first. It's easier to do on men than women and it is nothing compared to starting an IV! You'll do fine.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Nov 20, 2012

most students are concerned more about where it is rather than what it is. The good news is there is a target.

ConstantlyEvolving · Nov 20, 2012

It's not the men that bothers me, it's the women oh the thought of it drives me nuts lol. I'm sure I'll be fine once that time comes. I've been watching videos on you tube on how to do the procedure...I'm totally obsessed lol

Snowbird17 · Nov 20, 2012

I can't even remember my first, last, or the many in between. You'll get over it. There are better things to obsess over during nursing school!

Katie71275 · Nov 20, 2012

I had my first this quarter in OB. I will say, it was a lot slippier than I thought it would be and b/c the pt's water had broke, there was a lot of mucus, the lube, and fluids that made it more difficult to hold the parts up...But it went fine and Im glad I had the experience :)

I've also dc one and not a prob! PS some women have 3 holes...Yep didn't know that either lol!

LCinTraining · Nov 21, 2012

When I was a nanny we had to cath her four times a day. She was two years old and hated laying still. I got to where I could hit the target in a blink, she would climb back upright and drain standing on the changing table lol. I haven't done an adult yet, but the sim lab was relatively easy. My problem was sterility the first few times.

nynursey_ · Nov 21, 2012

I can't lie to you; my first time inserting a catheter was a total nightmare.

My patient was a 65 Y/O male detoxing from ETOH. He was experiencing tremors and wasn't circumsised. My instructor requested I perform the procedure a different way than I learned in lab and as a result, I accidentally contaminated my sterile field, causing me to lose 5 points for violating patient safety.

Your feelings about performing an uncomfortable procedure on a patient suddenly fall by the wayside when you realize you have to focus on what you're doing so that you perform it safely and correctly. It was extremely nerve-wracking but the experience thought me the importance of practicing your skills continually so you perform them the same way every single time and it becomes second nature.

Good luck in pursuing nursing!

hodgieRN · Nov 21, 2012

I was worried about keeping a sterile field. I felt like there were a hundred steps that I needed to perform in exact order. The first time I inserted a cath in a pt with prostate hypertrophy made me frustrated.

scb7620 · Nov 21, 2012

I got lucky and my first catheter was in the OR with a patient who was already asleep for surgery. I work in the NICU now though, and it's incredibly frustrating sometimes to try to cath itty-bitty girl babies! It's also hard to try to maintain the sterile field sometimes- helps to have another nurse help/watch you to catch any errors. :)

SaoirseRN · Nov 21, 2012

My first catheter insertion as a student was on a heavy woman after a hip replacement, so not an easy one considering the weight and the minimal abduction of the operative leg. However, I managed, with my instructor there giving tips. After the first one, subsequent catheters aren't so bad!

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 21, 2012

The first cath attempt I had was on a woman who just had a LOT of tissue to move aside to attempt to find the urethra. I never found it, but I also never contaminated the field either. My first successful cath attempt was in the OR with the entire team waiting for me to finish the job. A little coaching and actually being able to see the opening made the whole thing easy to do, and I didn't slow the surgical team down much at all. I have yet to put a cath in an male, but the opportunity to do so hasn't presented itself yet. I've got other things I need to focus on besides that...