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
It's a common feeling, don't worry! You have to get used to getting really close in peoples private space. The first time I had to do a cath insertion I had help (our clinical instructors encourage us to help each other as many programs do), most times you use a numbing agent so you're not necessarily hurting the pt, it may be a tad uncomfortable. You'll get used to alot of stuff lord knows, one day a group of us out to eat and somehow we started talking about Catheters and waste... One of my classmates said that's how you know youre in NS when you can sit around and talk about pee and poo and still have an appetite lol
The only time I insert catheters these days is in the OR, and my patients are all asleep, so we don't use any kind of numbing agent (nor did we when I worked ICU and patients were awake). What kind of numbing agent is being used now, and at what point is it used?
The only time I insert catheters these days is in the OR, and my patients are all asleep, so we don't use any kind of numbing agent (nor did we when I worked ICU and patients were awake). What kind of numbing agent is being used now, and at what point is it used?
The hospital that I am doing clinicals at has standing orders for Lidocaine in the urinary catheter bundle. The doc would have to cross it out, otherwise it is part of the catheter order. I have not sene it used though, so i am not sure exactly how it is approached.
Thanks for asking this question, I had the same worries :) Everyone has been really helpful admitting it was something that they felt uneasy about at first, too. Great to hear that now super-hero-RN's were once innocent little pre-nursing students like us. Haha.
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
The only time I insert catheters these days is in the OR, and my patients are all asleep, so we don't use any kind of numbing agent (nor did we when I worked ICU and patients were awake). What kind of numbing agent is being used now, and at what point is it used?