Catheter Care

During your work in care, you'll need to support many people with catheter care.

You'll get training for this, but don't worry - it's pretty simple!

As you'll probably know catheters are used for urinary incontinence. Essentially, they consist of a tube which carries urine directly from the bladder into a drainage bag.

You don't need to do anything with the part that goes up inside the body - that's for qualified nurses only! You only need to empty and maintain the drainage bags.

Catheters come in different shapes and sizes, but where the drainage bags are not disposable it's good practice to replace them once per week.

This also applies to the night bags.

You shouldn't leave night bags full - drain them when they are taken off please, and rinsing them through with water is also good practice.

Our policy is to mark the bags with the date on which they are changed - there is usually somewhere provided to do this on the bags.

It's also of benefit to wash the straps once per week, but check spares have been provided before you do this! Most will go in with household laundry without issue.

We'd rather you use all the straps provided and attach drainage bags to the leg, but some people will find this uncomfortable. If the bag is to hang loose, bear in mind the extra risks involved & avoid any situation in which it will tug on the catheter tube or snag.

In care homes and hospitals a night stand is provided for the night drainage bag, but we're yet to see one supplied for home care! A household bucket or basin will suffice, though please ensure it is clean and do not use it for anything else please.

Throughout your catheter support, observe infection prevention & control! Introducing pathogens through catheter fixings is likely to result in a UTI and we definitely don't want those!

Catheter Taps

Most of the taps and fittings you will encounter look like this. The white part is a rubber tube, and you can simply push and pull the two fittings apart. Remember 'all the taps in the chain should be open except the bottom one which should be closed' and you will not get anything wrong. If you close the top tap and prevent the night bag from filling you are likely to cause a bypass and considerable pain. No prizes for guessing what happens if the taps are left open by mistake! Try not to throw away the rubber hose part with the night bags - you'll leave the next person with no way to fit the bag.