If you are considering a carreer in nursing or you are already in nursing you will have a time when you need to care for a client with a suprapubic catheter.
The idea of caring for a suprapubic catheter may be frightening to some, but if someone you care for or love needs one, you must learn to help care for it properly to prevent infection.
Instructions
1. Prepere for the procedure;
Verify that the person to whom you intend to do care on, is in fact the correct client.
Remember the rule of 3's
Right Patient
Right Mode
Right Treatment or medication!
Clean and disinfect the clients overbed table
Gather your supplies, this way you will not be distracted or interupted while doing your suprapubic catheter care.
Place one of the towels out over the top of the overbed table, thenplace the remaining supplies on the cleaned and disinfected overbed table.
2. Wash your hands!
While this may seem redundant, proper handwashing is important to prevent nosocomial infections, and should be done before and after care on every client!
Put on a properly fitting pair of rubber gloves, but first insure that your client is not allergic to latex! If your client is allergic to latex you need to put on a pair of nitrile gloves.
3. When preparing the client for the treatment, take care to insure privacy. Close the curtian around the clients bedside or close the door for privacy.
When you expose the suprapubic aread use care to insure that all other parts of the clients body is covered.
Protect their privacy, modesty and dignity!
4. Begin by using warm soapy water in a small basin and your washcloth to gently and thouroughly cleanse the area around the catheter. then pat the area dry with the other towels.
When you are finished place the now "dirty" towel along side the client to use as the place to dispose of "dirty supplies"
Carefully remove the dressing so as not to injure the client, and to insure that the suprapubic catheter is not pulled on.
Pinch the wrist area of the glove with your other gloved hand and pull downwards while holding onto the dressing, and partially remove your glove over the dressing. then with the fingers of the hand holding the dressing you will now do the same for your other gloved hand and remove the glove, ball it into the hand with the dressing and finish removing the glove inside out to completely cover both the dressing and other glove.
Wash your hands again and put on another pair of gloves
Open several alcohol pads and place them on the towel on the overbed table where you can easily reach them
5. Gently grasp the suprapubic catheter and using the alcohol pads carefully wipe the skin surrounding the wound while noting it's condition.
Check for redness or other signs of infection while doing the care and report any adverse findings to the head nurse or physician.
Clean the exudate from around the catheter where it meets the skin, using care not to pull on the catheter during the procedure, some of this may be difficult to remove but it is necessary to remove it.
Place dirty alcohol pads onto the towel next to the client.
Apply wound ointment as prescribed by the attending doctor.
Apply split gauze 4x4 one overlaping the other so that the split does not expose open skin and tape securely in place.
Tape the catheter to the dressing
Gather used supplys and dispose of according to hospital policy
Remove gloves
Wash Hands
Tags: overbed table, alcohol pads, insure that, suprapubic catheter, allergic latex, around catheter