Foley Catheter Insertion Tips

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Hello all. Can anyone offer me some tips/tricks for inserting a foley catheter in either a male or female?

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, Oncology, Rehab, LTAC.

There is such a thing as too much lube.

Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

Somewhere there is a whole thread on this subject...will look.

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

if you miss when cathing a female - leave it until you are done to reduce your chances of making the same mistake twice.

Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

This was a good article on it.

I do home care daily for a guy that has an indwelling and when I first took over the position of caring for him, upon learning of his enlarged prostate, I immediately started ordering Coude catheters. I replace it q2 weeks and the curved tip makes insertion much easier than regular foleys. If ya have a patient that has enlarged prostate probs, Coude is the way to go.

Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

If you are cathing a man with BPH, have the man breathe in and out from his mouth (like a woman in labor does) and have him wiggle his toes at the same time. i swear it works! I had a urologist teach me this once. I have never not been able to sink a cath on a man with BPH since.

cathing a woman, especially older women....look for the meatus first instead of just attempting to put the cath where the meatus should be. many older women, especially...their meatus is inside their lady parts. so if you cant see it, stick your gloved, lubricated finger inside the lady parts until you feel it. that way you know exactly where it is. you can use your pointer finger to guide the cath into the meatus when it is in the lady parts to prevent cathing the lady parts itself. if you do cath the lady parts, don't remove the cath. leave it in the lady parts so that when you start to recath with the second tube, you will know where NOT to put it.

bring the patients bed up to your level. it's easier on your back and you will be more accurate with the cath.

make sure you get a urine return before inflating the balloon.

speaking of the balloon...inflate the balloon prior to using the catheter to make sure it isnt defective. it doesnt happen often but it does happen.

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

When cathing a female, esp a female w/ edematous everything after a delivery, I go just below the privy parts and then angle the catheter up. It works every single time. If her labia are swollen and tender, it makes it very hard to separate everything in order to visualize, so I use that trick instead. It hasn't failed me once.

Specializes in Oncology, Triage, Tele, Med-Surg.

During the preliminary cleansing, I always use a flashlight so see where I'm going, then prop it with a towel or blanket to keep the light where I need it. It's hard to miss if you can really see where you are going. If you need someone in the room to help with positioning, they can hold the light for you, but I try to minimize the help to protect the person's privacy when possible.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC, Rehab, Hospice, Endocrine.

Good tips! Another question, along the lines of the OP. I've cathed men before and felt the catheter curling in the member....how do I prevent this?

Specializes in Hospice, ER.
When cathing a female, esp a female w/ edematous everything after a delivery, I go just below the privy parts and then angle the catheter up. It works every single time. If her labia are swollen and tender, it makes it very hard to separate everything in order to visualize, so I use that trick instead. It hasn't failed me once.

I do this on elderly women, when their urinary meatus is somewhere inside their lady parts. It hasn't failed me either. I usually "fly blind" when cathing, due to our overwhelming senior population. As for men with curling caths, a smaller cath size and a coude tip can help, but sometimes that darn prostate just won't budge.:banghead: The last time this happened, the doc couldn't pass the cath either. I'd like tips on this, too!

As for men with curling caths, a smaller cath size and a coude tip can help, but sometimes that darn prostate just won't budge.:banghead: The last time this happened, the doc couldn't pass the cath either. I'd like tips on this, too!

oh, that's easy.

just have your doc do what our doc did...

RAM IT THROUGH UNTIL IT BLEEDS.

yep, doc had the gall to get ticked off at me because the darned thing just wouldn't budge.

so he persisted and persisted (while pt is SCREAMING in pain) til it eventually passed.

pt had to go to er r/t profuse bleeding.

doc has lost privileges at our facility.

leslie

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