Skill 79

Urinary Catheter Care and Removal

Bacterial growth is common where the catheter enters the urethral meatus in both men and women. Perform catheter care each shift as part of routine perineal care, after bowel incontinence, or if secretions accumulate around the urinary meatus. Removal of a retention catheter requires the use of clean technique. You deflate the retention balloon before removal. If the retention catheter balloon remains even partially inflated, its removal will result in trauma and subsequent swelling of the urethral meatus. Always remove an indwelling catheter as soon as possible after insertion because of risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI).

Delegation Considerations

The skill of performing routine catheter care and removing a catheter can be delegated to nursing assistive personnel (NAP). The nurse instructs NAP to:

▪ Report characteristics of the urine output from the catheter, including color, odor, and amount.

▪ Report the condition of the patient’s perineum (color, discharge, contamination from fecal incontinence).

▪ Check the size of the balloon and the size of the syringe needed to deflate the balloon, and to report if balloon does not deflate and/or if there is bleeding or excessive burning.

▪ Measure first voiding and report time and amount voided.