Health Education for Patients with Urinary Catheters

Provide the patient-family with the following information: a. Reason for the catheterization Your kidneys are constantly producing urine, which then travels down into your bladder through tubes called ureters. If you cannot empty your bladder normally, urine will continue to build up and put pressure on the valves that control the flow of urine from your kidneys down to your bladder. Over time, this pressure can become so great that urine is forced back through the valves and up the ureters to your kidneys. This can lead to kidney infection and eventually to kidney failure. By inserting a urinary catheter, urine is able to flow out of your bladder and remove this dangerous build-up of pressure.

To relieve a physical obstruction to urine flow, such as a urinary-tract stone, a bladder tumor or an enlarged prostate. To drain urine when the bladder's muscles or nerves are not working properly. This can be caused by a spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or some other nerve problem. Also, certain medications can interfere with the bladder's normal emptying. To treat incontinence (difficulty holding in urine until you reach the toilet) when other methods have failed. To drain urine in patients who are unconscious. This includes patients who are in a coma or under general anesthesia. To measure urine output in infants and children who are not toilet trained. To measure urine output in adults who are incapacitated because of critical illness or surgery. To obtain a clean urine sample for tests to detect bacteria infections in the urine. A clean urine sample is one that is not contaminated by bacteria from the patient's hands, genitals or rectum. With a catheter, a clean urine sample can be obtained directly from inside the bladder. To collect urine during diagnostic studies of the urinary tract.

b. What the nurse will be doing during the procedure c. Risks of urinary catheterization Insertion of a urinary catheter carries a risk of the following problems:

The urethra or bladder can be damaged. Very rarely, the bladder wall is punctured. The catheter can be inserted into the vagina by mistake. This happens most often in infant girls.

When indwelling catheters are inserted, the catheter balloon can be inflated inside the urethra, instead of the bladder, injuring the urethra's wall. This complication happens more often in males than in females, because the urethra is longer in men.

After the catheter is inserted Whenever a catheter enters the bladder, there is a risk that bacteria will get into the urinary tract. In many cases, the bacteria grow in the urine without causing any symptoms of a urinary tract infection. Sometimes, however, the bacteria cause symptoms of a urinary tract infection, including a fever and changes in the urine's smell and appearance. d. Effects of Long-term use After long-term use of an indwelling catheter In people who need an indwelling catheter for long-term care, the following complications can occur:

The urethra can be damaged or scarred. A long-term inflammation or infection of the kidneys can develop. "Stones" made of mineral deposits can form inside the kidneys or bladder, or on the catheter tip or balloon. The scrotum, prostate or nearby structures can become infected.

e. That the Catheterization is not usually painful, but the patient will probably experience a sensation of pressure