New grad ..irrigating a foley

[LiveLoveLifexo]

I am a new nurse . This is my first job working as a lpn . I've been at the facility I'm working at for about 6 months. I work overnight at a nursing home and a few nights ago I had a treatment which was irrigating a foley on a patient with a Supra pubic tube . I've never done that before and never learned it in school. I called my supervisor and she came to my unit and explained to me how to do it etc from doing my own research before she arrived I seen videos of other nurses using a irrigation kit. I then informed her one wasn't available on my unit and she said I could use a sealed new pistol syringe and container package we use to give meds to patients with feeding tubes .fast forward a few days later I was giving report to a day shift charge nurse on my unit and informed her about the patient who's foley we have to irrigate daily's foley wasn't draining etc and another was was inserted with good effect .The topic of Irrigating his foley then came up and I said I'm glad we now have the irrigation kits it's much more convenient. She then looked at me crazy and said we've always had them ( which we didn't ) and said what did you use I told her a new sealed pistol syringe like the ones wee use for feeding tube patients and she said rudely that I probably caused him to have a infection . It's been bothering me all morning . So my question is do you use a irrigation kit or can you used a sealed packaged syringe to irrigate a foley ? My supervisor is saying one thing and my day shift charge nurse is saying another.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

The syringe you used is fine. I've often used one in place of the ones from the irrigation kits as I find them sturdier.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

It's a piston syringe and as long as it was sterile you are good.