Discharge patient with Foley, but forgot to give the syringes to remove foley

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey, I'm a brand new nurse (working for 2 months), and I made a mistake. I discharge a patient with a Foley catheter as ordered. I got him the leg bag and a foley bag for bedtime. I got his paperwork signed and he left. The one thing I forgot to give him is the syringes for him to remove it. I didn't realize it until the day after the d/c. What should I do? Should I panic? Please let me know how to deal with the situation because this is the first time that happen to me. :(

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Okay, thanks. I've been having spikes of panic ever since I started my job. I may have done everything right, but I always have that doubt that creeps in during my off days. Is that normal for a new nurse to experience this?

Very normal. It gets better. :)

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Specializes in Pedi.
It didn't say for him to remove foley until he sees the urologist to help examine the urine.

So then the Urologist can make the decision of whether or not the Foley needs to stay in and either remove it in the office if needed.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
Hey, y'all. Thank you so much for the comments. In the hospital we work in, we do d/c patients with foleys. The patient is seeing the urologist in that week, so he could call the dr if he has questions. We do remove IVs before patients leave. I'm still learning as much as I can, for I'm a new nurse. I'll do my best. :)
I think the urologists will determine whether or not the patient will need to be followed by home health nursing visits if it is decided that the foley remain in place longer than anticipated.

On a relative note, it has been my experience (within the hospital confines, of course) that if the patient's urological condition (complex) warrants insertion of a catheter, the urologists inserts and removes the catheter himself. I don't know if this applies to your patient or not. But I have seen physicians rip new ones in many a nurse for the removal of a catheter by anyone other than the urologist.

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We saw a home health patient woth a foley. Her urologist told cut the port where the water goes in to remove it the morning of day she had an afternoon appointment with him. He wanted to see if she was able to void on her own and if not he would reinsert it at the appointment. I thought it was weird toobut it makes sense and saves a visit.

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It didn't say for him to remove foley until he sees the urologist to help examine the urine.

What exactly was the order?

Where does this stand now?

When does he see the doctor?

Does the patient know how to do Foley care?

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What exactly was the order?

Where does this stand now?

When does he see the doctor?

Does the patient know how to do Foley care?

Pt. D/C with foley, give leg bag.

I don't remember the full order since it was done about 3 days ago. I'm off right now. :(

He sees the doctor in 3 days, he was discharged a couple of days ago. The patient knows how to take care of the Foley.

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I can't remember (I HATE old age) but I thought there were rare but real reasons it was not a good idea to cut the port?

When I was working in PACU and would occasionally do days in post-op, there was one urologist in particular who wanted us to tell EVERY patient who was going home with a foley how to cut the port in the event that the Foley catheter got yanked on but not totally pulled out. Then there was another one who argued that that should be done for males but not females. When I moved to the OR if the two of them worked together on a case they would get on that topic occasionally and oh my gracious they would drive each other batty hah

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Pt. D/C with foley, give leg bag.

I don't remember the full order since it was done about 3 days ago. I'm off right now. :(

He sees the doctor in 3 days, he was discharged a couple of days ago. The patient knows how to take care of the Foley.

OK, thanks. You aren't sure if there was an order to give a syringe? But he's apparently going to the doctor tomorrow.

Was there any information given to him about what to do if the Foley got yanked and he started having terrible pain? Normally, if this brought to a patient's attention?

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Specializes in Med-surg, telemetry, oncology, rehab, LTC, ALF.

Did the patient discharge home with a home health nurse? If so, no worries, the home health nurse will have the materials necessary to D/C the Foley at a later date. If the patient is going to have the Foley taken out at a physician's office, then the provider will have those materials available, too.

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.

It's getting bad these days when we're sending people home to pull out their own foleys. That could be dangerous. Anway; when you were teaching didn't you show the patient the syringe they would use? I've never heard of this. What's next...IVs, stints (I took out my own stint post ESWL). That's right; I just snipped it and it slid out like magic. I wasn't about to drive into the urologist office so I could have one of his assitants do it.

The word is stent.

Stents I am familiar with have a string that is left in place for the patient to pull on to remove it. If you snip the string you can't pull it out yourself, you have to go to the urologist's office to have them remove it.

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You actually don't need a syringe to DC a Foley. A scissors can be used to cut the port that the syringe would attach to inflate the balloon with water. The water from the balloon then just leaks out and the balloon deflates.

What I don't understand is that you expect the patient to remove his own Foley. The normal procedure would be for the patient to return to the doctors office to be reevaluated and have the Foley removed at that time.

Until it doesnt and then you have to call the urologist to explain what you did. This does happen to nurses...

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In out patient surgery it was not often, but not unusual, to send a patient home with a foley which they could remove the next day. We gave instructions, had a unused foley we used to demonstrate foley care and removal, the patient and or family did a return demonstration. They were also given written instructions with pictures. They were told they could go to their urologists or surgeons office the next day, without an appointment, if they felt uncomfortable removing it themselves.

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