I am going to be starting the nursing program at my college this fall. There is just one thing..I am afraid of inserting a urinary catheter!. Well not so much afraid but Im a guy and get that "feeling" in the guy area just thinking of having to put a long skinny tube..well you know where. The same goes for thinking about it for a female. I know this probably sounds stupid, but how do I over come this? will every nurse out in the field be putting in urinary catheters once in their career? anyway around it...
Sorry for the silly post but i was thinking about it today and wanted to get some advice and input on the subject...does anyone else ever think of this or have a problem with it
you will eventually think of holes as just that. Holes. A target. I was deathly afraid of suctioning trachs till I realized it was just vaccuuming. I have been doing that for years at home. So really it is a matter of reframing. And YES! Almost every nurse has something that bothers them. I gave >200 flu shots last year to co-workers. Got tired of hearing how they were afraid of needles. ALL NURSES
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Everyone has their nursing kryptonite. This may or may not be yours - you will find out when faced with actually doing it. A lot of times, once you start to really absorb the reason why you do certain things, the act of doing them becomes tolerable because the consequence of not doing them weighs more. Yes, you will find stuff that makes you feel kind of ooky. Just tell yourself your mental blocks aren't going to win and push through. You'll find yourself poking and prodding with the best of us. :)
There are skills that I will have to master that give me trepidation right now. Mine is currently inserting IV's or more like poking anything sharp at a pt. However, I tell myself that these are things that will help the pt in the long run even if it gives them a brief moment of pain/discomfort. For instance, the consequence for someone really needing to have their bladder emptied is greater, than the brief moment of discomfort for you or the pt. Same thing with IV's. I start in the fall too, and I am just determined to check my fear at the door and just learn to do the things that they show us to do to the best of my ability.
When I am in clinical, I develop a different mind set. Something that would bug me at home I don't blink at while I'm in my 'work mind' an I think you will develop that, too. (sometimes if I think of it later at home it does bother me later though, lol). Also, generally you are so concerned about getting the technical part of the skill right (keeping a sterile field, etc) that is usually all that's going through your mind. FYI; I have done 2 foleys in all of my clinical experience.
I am going to be starting the nursing program at my college this fall. There is just one thing..I am afraid of inserting a urinary catheter!. Well not so much afraid but Im a guy and get that "feeling" in the guy area just thinking of having to put a long skinny tube..well you know where. The same goes for thinking about it for a female. I know this probably sounds stupid, but how do I over come this? will every nurse out in the field be putting in urinary catheters once in their career? anyway around it...
Sorry for the silly post but i was thinking about it today and wanted to get some advice and input on the subject...does anyone else ever think of this or have a problem with it
Once you see and get to practice it, hopefully most of your anxieties about it will disappear. A good option is once you start your skills lab at school, ask the skills instructor if you can stay a little extra time after class to get some good one on one practice and any extra tips that they may have to offer you. Also when it comes time to actually place one in clinicals, have your clinical instructor next to you for support and help guide you through it. I'm sure your instructors would be more than happy to accomodate you in whatever ways they can
I think that having somebody who's a little worried about it is a better situation. Speaking as a patient, caths hurt like hell and I've never come out of the hospital without a UTI from it. So I'd rather my nurse be on high alert, paying super close attention to what kind of pathogens they are shoving into my bladder, and being aware that those suckers HURT.
You will become more comfortable with this once you practice. When I was in school we practiced on dummies in skills lab before attempting this on actual patients. I'm not sure if you have simulation dummies, but if you do they are very helpful when it comes to learning new skills!
I HATE catheters. I think because I had one once, and it's not a memory I like to revisit. I think we project our feelings onto the patient, because most are not as opposed to them as you may think. The old phrase "This is going to hurt me more than it will you" is probably true.
I am going to be starting the nursing program at my college this fall. There is just one thing..I am afraid of inserting a urinary catheter!. Well not so much afraid but Im a guy and get that "feeling" in the guy area just thinking of having to put a long skinny tube..well you know where. The same goes for thinking about it for a female. I know this probably sounds stupid, but how do I over come this? will every nurse out in the field be putting in urinary catheters once in their career? anyway around it...
Sorry for the silly post but i was thinking about it today and wanted to get some advice and input on the subject...does anyone else ever think of this or have a problem with it
Thank you so much for posting this! I start nursing school in the fall and have the same fear of catheters! All the responses are such a big help!
Well, I wouldn't focus on this at this point. Try to look at each new thing as a skill that you will learn, knowing that you won't be asked to do anything without guideance and passing some preliminary tests on paper and possibly in the lab. Take advantage of being new and once you do get into clinicals try to be observant and helpful to the staff. Listen in on report, all of it, not just on your patients. When you hear that a procedure needs to be done that day that you have not yet tried, appoach that nurse and ask her if you could do it, or at least if you could sit in and watch her do it. Then take a few minutes to look up that procedure in the facilities P&P Manual. Yes, you will be nervous, but most will get over that after the first time they try. The beauty of this is that no professional will ever allow you to do something that is unsafe and has any potential to hurt their patients. If they do stop you while in the middle of the procedure, listen to what they are saying and procede. I'll bet if you were in the process of making a mistake, once corrected you will remember that forever. The more procedures that you attempt while in the safe arms of staff and teachers in clinicals, the more comfortable you will be once you get your first job and are on your own.
I have trained so many new nurses. I have at times been dismayed at how little actual experience they have in doing basics. After I got over my frustration, I could see that it was simple fear (and possibly overworked/disinterested teachers) that allowed them to graduate without attempting many basic nursing tasks. Fortunately, I do love to see people overcome this fear, find their feet and fly using sometimes, some tricky techniques in helping them overcome their fears and see themselves as competent nursing professionals. Though I will say that it is a pleasure when a new grad comes and has show proficiency in doing many procedures.
As for myself, I never had to catheterize a male patient until I was in the profession for a year...yes, a whole year. And I too was scared as so many of my male family and friends would express horror at the mear thought of having a catheter. But once I did it, I found it soo sooo sooooooo much easier than attempting to catheterize females that may have had previous surgeries with displaced bladders that many times cannot be found in the conventional way.
Best of luck to you!
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
classicdame, MSN, EdD
7,255 Posts
you will eventually think of holes as just that. Holes. A target. I was deathly afraid of suctioning trachs till I realized it was just vaccuuming. I have been doing that for years at home. So really it is a matter of reframing. And YES! Almost every nurse has something that bothers them. I gave >200 flu shots last year to co-workers. Got tired of hearing how they were afraid of needles. ALL NURSES