Catheter care and infection control

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Catheter Care and Infection Control
   1. Meatal Cleansing
   2. Managing drainage systems
   3. Catheter Valves
   4. Taking catheter specimens of urine
   5. Catheter Care Bundles
   6. Troubleshooting catheter problems
   7. Bypassing
   8. Encrustation and blockage
3. Summary
4. References

Catheter Valves

A catheter valve can be connected directly to a catheter and removes the need for a drainage bag for many patients, although some may still prefer to use a 2 litre drainage bag attached to the valve for night-time drainage. Using a catheter valve is much more discreet and it can be tucked inside underwear to promote dignity for the patient.

A valve also allows the bladder to fill and empty thereby helping to maintaining bladder tone, but it must be released periodically to prevent over-distension of the bladder (Bardsley and Kyle, 2007). Valves have been shown to reduce the incidence of bladder wall and urethral trauma as the bladder wall is lifted off the catheter tip and there is no weight dragging on the catheter, which would occur with a drainage bag (Bardsley and Kyle, 2007).

Catheter valves are not suitable for all patients.

Task 6

1

What does the practitioner need to consider when assessing whether a patient may be a suitable candidate for using a catheter valve? Enter your answer in the box below and then select Check answer. The nurse needs to think about the following. Does the patient - have sufficient manual dexterity to be able to operate the valve independently - have the cognitive ability to understand how to operate the valve and remember to open it - have sufficient bladder capacity to retain urine - have awareness of bladder sensation and the ability to identify when the bladder is full and the valve needs to be opened.

While valves are preferred by many patients, there are differences between the performance of different products (Fader et al, 1997) and the practice of using valves is based primarily on expert opinion rather than research.