Do registered nurses perceive the anchoring of indwelling urinary catheters as a necessary aspect of nursing care? A pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if registered nurses perceive the stabilization of indwelling urinary catheters as a necessary aspect of care.


METHODS
Descriptive exploratory study.


METHODS
Eighty-two medical-surgical and critical care registered nurses currently practicing in a community medical center.


METHODS
A new instrument, the Catheter Anchoring Survey, was designed by the primary investigator and submitted for face and content validity to 8 certified continence specialists. A convenience sample of 82 medical-surgical and critical care nurses voluntarily completed the survey.


RESULTS
Ninety-eight percent of the nurses agreed that securing indwelling urinary catheters was a necessary aspect of nursing care, but this response was not congruent with the prevalence data obtained before questionnaire completion.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of nurses surveyed agreed that catheter stabilization is an important aspect of nursing care, but this perception did not concur with current practice. Further research is needed to determine if catheter stabilization should be the standard of care.
Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing, Raritan Bay Medical Center, Old Bridge, NJ 08857, USA. et13@optonline.net
Tracey J
TJ
Siegel
D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D003151:Community Health Centers; D003625:Data Collection; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses; D009732:Nursing Care / Q000592:standards; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing*