Wondering if I will be able to insert a cathedar?

[studentdeb]

I was looking through my Fundamentals of Nursing last night and I came across the section that teachs you how to do cathedars (not sure if spelled correctly). As I was looking at this section, I thought to myself, "will I be able to do this"

Was it hard to perform cathedars or other tests on males or even females? How do you become comfortable so that you can do it properly?

[Hidi74]

Maaaannnnn !!!!

You guys have no idea how glad I am that i'm not the only one who is scared of doing this. I was read ing on my schools web site about it...then I saw the pics....WOW. I almost fainted. I can handle blood, guts whatever but the thought of inserting a catheter ....geeeez. I almost changed career choices. Well any way I decided I will wait till i'm at least done w/ my prereqs before i think about it again. :-))))

Hidi74 Future RNangel

[Morguein]

Can someone tell me what the wink reflex is? Thanks!

Maria

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

It's ok to be scared, I'd rather have someone scared but willing to try than an overconfident student that doesn't listen. This isn't something you will do right away. You will feel a lot better about being with patients and doing procedures as you go through school.

When I was in school, I cathed one male patient, no females-but I soon learned, once I started work. Now I cath babies-same anatomy just little, and it can take two nurses to cath one active newborn!

[mark_LD_RN]

yes it can be quite a feat cathing a baby

[Sarahstudent]

I've been cathed during my babies birth. If you're lucky enough to get a woman in hard labour, she's been through so much that she really could care less!!!! Before I was cathed, the thought of it was...grrrrr....but it all happened so quickly and little deal was made out of it so I barely noticed. I didn't even feel it.

Sarah

[Charity, RN, APRN]

The "wink reflex" shows up when you rub the betadine over the site. Keep a close eye on things as you swab with the betadine, and the urinary meatus will "wink" at you. Aim for that spot.

Charity

[suzielee]

Catheterization can be scary when you first try it. Females are harder then males (in my opinion) If you have to use a flash light to find the meatus. This is when your going to discover the diversity of female anatomy. Some can be pretty scary.

[RN-PA, RN]

The first woman I catheterized under the hawk-eyed supervision of my instructor had two "false" meatuses (meati? ) where the catheter went in but looped right back out. (I *ALWAYS* use a flashlight to find the meatus before catheterizing a woman, by the way.)

The last woman I tried to catheterize was 93 years old and it ended up being a group effort as I needed another nurse to help me find the patient's meatus. Even with a catheter in the woman's lady parts, her hips raised on an upside down fracture bedpan, we never did find the meatus and notified the attending MD. I felt bad for all the poking and searching we did, and was thankful the patient was oriented, cooperative, and accepting of our apologies. :)

[mark_LD_RN]

yes there are some tough ones to find especially on elderly females, things tend to move down the hall and to the right:).

one trick with elderly females is to use one hand to gently pull up on mons this helps bring meatus back to the front. you can also insertleft fore finger into lady parts and press up slightly and guide cath along top of finger with other hand.

[Morguein]

Charity, thanks for the "wink reflex" info! :)

Maria

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

Mark, Charity

I never heard of the wink reflex. Great tip!

One problem that is hard to "get around" , is when trying to cath the patient that has been pushing for awhile...

[debralynn]

I personally was glad when I had to be cathed. I mean after surgery, who wants to get up to go to the bathroom. It was really nice just lying there and getting the job done!LOL