An evidence-based approach to urinary catheter changes.
Many people in the community have a urinary catheter that is routinely changed by a community nurse. People with urinary catheters can experience a number of problems including catheter blockages. A blocked catheter causes great distress and inconvenience to the person and places a strain on the resources of community nursing organizations because of the need for unscheduled visits to change the catheter. A procedure that enabled catheter changes to be planned before they blocked would reduce patient distress and better assist community nursing organizations with resource management. The planned catheter change approach is a procedure that community nurses can use to better plan urinary catheter changes to minimize complications. In this article the author presents the outcomes from the implementation of a planned approach to catheter care in a home nursing service in Melbourne, Australia.
Helen Macpherson Smith Institute of Community Health, Royal District Nursing Service, Melbourne, Australia. gmiles@rdns.com.au
Gail
G
Miles
Jenny
J
Schroeder
D004868:Equipment Failure; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D014739:Victoria