Question about catheters...

[CrazierThanYou]

forgive me if this is a stupid question. i'm just starting nursing school in august so i'm just getting started.

i keep seeing that commercial where the woman is lamenting on how she must reuse catheters and she was sooooo tired of boiling, drying, and reusing catheters all day long.

what i am wondering is, what kind of condition might one have that would require all those catheters?

thanks!

[Bill E. Rubin]

I'm not familiar with that commercial... Are you talking of urinary catheters? If so, anything that causes urinary retention or loss of ability to control urination... For example spina bifida or something like that. Or perhaps I am way off since I don't know the context. :)

[Ivanna_Nurse, BSN, RN]

OOOooh. I am glad that I am not the only one.... I see the lady walking around and wonder the same things... I wondern if she is a paid actor, because it strikes me that someone that self caths would not be able to stroll around like she does. Hope you get some good answers! : Ivanna

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I have a student that self caths because of chronic UTIs secondary to urinary retention and lack of bladder tone. No history of spina bifida or anything like that, to look at her you would think she was a normal kiddo. So, there are conditions that require straight cath that are not outwardly apparent. :)

[sivad05]

My mother had a stroke 13 years ago, she cannot empty her bladder on her own. She had to be self-catherized once to twice a day to remove the urine from her bladder. A "straight" catheter was used. It is about 6 inches long and straight, this was used to empty her bladder. It is pretty easy. Though anytime you introduce a foreign object to the body you increase the chances of infection. My mother now has a foley catheter because she was getting to many bladder infections with the straight catheter, since she did it twice daily.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

I thought I was the only person who had ever seen this commercial. That woman's voice is...well, let's just say her saying "every time I had to cath!" is now playing on continuous loop in my head.

Some people have neurogenic bladders or urinary retention unmanaged by any means aside from catheterizing. Usually, these people have some sort of spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, etc. However, I know some gyn surgeries leave a woman intermittent cath dependent. Anatomical issues, like strictures, may also have this result.

I'm really glad Holly (I think that's her name) finally received her sterile cath kits. :)

[CrazierThanYou]

My mother had a stroke 13 years ago, she cannot empty her bladder on her own. She had to be self-catherized once to twice a day to remove the urine from her bladder. A "straight" catheter was used. It is about 6 inches long and straight, this was used to empty her bladder. It is pretty easy. Though anytime you introduce a foreign object to the body you increase the chances of infection. My mother now has a foley catheter because she was getting to many bladder infections with the straight catheter, since she did it twice daily.

Next, I was going to ask about foley caths, based on the infection risk.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Though anytime you introduce a foreign object to the body you increase the chances of infection. My mother now has a foley catheter because she was getting to many bladder infections with the straight catheter, since she did it twice daily.

I'm about to go OT a little.

Yes, any time a foreign body is introduced into a sterile area such as the bladder, the chances of infection are increased. Yes, a "straight cath" is a foreign body being introduced into the bladder.

However...

if sterile technique is followed, than the chances of infection are much less than if a catheter remains in the bladder which is the case with an indwelling (Foley) catheter. Sterile technique is used to insert the indwelling catheter, but that is where sterility ends. Many health care facilities have very strict criteria for allowing inpatients to have indwelling catheters because of the association with infections.

Sorry to hijack.

[XingtheBBB, BSN, RN]

No, CamaroNurse, I don't think your post was OT, sounds like that was on the OP's mind also. I was going to point out the same thing. The longer a device sits in the body, the better the chance of colonization happening.

[CrazierThanYou]

Thanks! I've learned something here.

But the thought of having to self-cath over and over is cringe-inducing. I really feel for those people....

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

It is amazing how quickly the kids I work with become comfortable with it. The 4th grader self caths and is amazingly proficient, while the 1st grader still has me cath, but she is learning how to do it herself as well.

Just a note about sterility...when someone self caths it is generally a "clean" procedure versus a sterile one. The person self-cathing will wash their hands, wipe themselves with something like a baby wipe, then cath. On the other hand, if someone like a parent or the nurse is cathing the person for them, then it is a sterile procedure.

The rationale is that the person self cathing would be only contacting their own germs, which they are unlikely to develop an infection from since they are already colonized. If a different person is cathing them they have different germs and the person would be at risk for infection if it is a germ that their body is not immune to or is unable to fend off. I am not sure if I am explaining that very well, sorry!

[wishinguponastarLPN]

Please who are paralyzed from the waist down often use catheters on a daily basis.