foley catheters

[troy09boston]

For some reason I have difficulty placing foley catheters; I have been a nurse for 5 years and work on a floor that most of the patient come up from the ED with one placed. When I dod need to place one I seem to have a problem; which makes me feel inadequate; does anyone have any litlle tricks or suggestions thanks so much for your input

[rotteluvr31, ADN, RN]

I just came from a GN orientation today, and this topic cropped up a couple of times today. Many of the hints given today have been repeated here, but a couple of additional ones includes placing an upside down fracture pan under the pts buttocks to give the hips a lift, also don't forget to look for the wink.

The most innovative suggestion came from when we were using hoyers. The RN training us was in the sling and said "look at me - I'm here in the air with my legs spread and you can see everything you need to see!" The suggestion was that for obese patients, use the hoyer to raise them just a little off the bed. The sling will pull their legs apart and position them in a way that you can see what you are doing. We were using brand new hoyers, I don't know if this would work as well with some of the older models.

[qt2168]

If your doing a cath on a guy if you meet resistance I twist the tube because it seems to help.

[helikias]

This is just a note from the patient side of things ... God bless all you nurses that know how to put in a Foley catheter really fast! God bless you nurses who care enough to try to get better at it! You are doing a wonderful thing by learning how to do this.

My bladder didn't work right a couple of days after I had my C-section. They had just taken my catheter out a few hours earlier, and my bladder was full of urine and getting fuller but it would not come out (all those IV fluids).

It was so painful and scary, I literally wished I was dead. I NEVER felt pain like that before. I have never screamed in pain before but I did that day. The pain was really beyond words.

God bless the nurse that came in my room and swiftly and skillfully put that Foley catheter in and got the urine out!

I am a bit traumatized from this incident, and sometimes I wonder what if she couldn't get it in or something? Would I have died? Could my kidneys have been ruined, or my bladder pop or something???

As a side note, is it possible to have PTSD from this type of thing? I find myself very disturbed about it even after 5 years.

[XingtheBBB, BSN, RN]

I've only once not been able to pass a foley on a female... easy to visualize (and she was under anesthesia in lithotomy) I ended up having the urosurgeon from the next room insert it and believe me he had trouble, too. It's rare that that happens (and in her case, related to malignancy) In males it happens more often. Consider grabbing a coude for backup in those with a history of prostate issues. Anytime you know you are in the right spot and can't pass it or the pt complains (and you know it's genuine) consider asking your primary MD for urology to help out!