Touchless Self Contained Cath

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I am in need of some assistance. I am an independent contracting nurse for HCS facilities. One of my tasks is doing an in/out "straight" cath for patients with chronic UTIs. We have been provided a new product of touchless self contained straight catheter but I am having the hardest time on figuring out how to move the catheter further. No instructions were provided with the kit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Troubled Nurse in Texas

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

Is this the one contained in the bag?

The one I'm familiar with has a little silicone-like hub filled with lubricant at the tip of the catheter. It is also connected to a measuring bag. The actual catheter resides inside this whole contraption and can only be "touched" if you advnce the catheter through the hub. This is easier to remain sterile than traditional straight caths, plus the bag does the measuring for you, and can be torn to empty into container/toilet for disposal.

Anyway, to answer your question, if this is the same system. You place the hub at the urethral opening and have to hold it there a little firmly (to collapse hub and allow catheter to advance). With the same hand that's holding the catheter to the urethral opening, use your thumb & index finger to hold the catheter that is still in the bag steady. With your other hand, you're going to pinch the catheter inside bag further away from the pt's body (say about 3-4 inches), and then push the catheter into the pt. After that, your non-dominant (holding) hand grasps the catheter again to hold it steady so your dominant hand can pull the bag back down to it's original position. Then you repeat until catheter is in. Yo can remove the catheter the same way you would a normal catheter.

I know this is a long post, but I hope I've explained it so you can understand it. If not feel free to PM me. :)

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Thanks so much. This is exactly the help I was needing. I will be using your advice with my next time using that cath kit.

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I just wanted to mention... if the ones you are using are the self lubricating ones, where you need to "pop" the water bag to get them to lube up, make sure you get the catheter covered well with the water.

I am not a nurse yet, however my son straight caths every 4 hours. We had so much trouble with these types of caths, and that was one of the issues we had. I was not impressed with the ease of use for the all in one caths, so we have stuck with the regular straight caths.

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

had no idea that some had a lubricating bag you had to pop. One would think that that would be hard to lube the whole catheter. The ones I'm used to have lots of lube in the hub at catheter tip, so as catheter advances, its automatically coated without any work/effort on the user. I didn't have any trouble with the type I explained about earlier, but could see some hassles with the type JustDeena mentioned.

Anyways, let me know how your next attempt goes. :)

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