Do registered nurses perceive the anchoring of indwelling urinary catheters as a necessary aspect of nursing care? A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if registered nurses perceive the stabilization of indwelling urinary catheters as a necessary aspect of care.

DESIGN

Descriptive exploratory study.

SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Eighty-two medical-surgical and critical care registered nurses currently practicing in a community medical center.

INTERVENTIONS: A new instrument, the Catheter Anchoring Survey, was designed by the primary investigator and submitted for face and content validity to 8 certified continence specialists. A convenience sample of 82 medical-surgical and critical care nurses voluntarily completed the survey.

RESULTS

Ninety-eight percent of the nurses agreed that securing indwelling urinary catheters was a necessary aspect of nursing care, but this response was not congruent with the prevalence data obtained before questionnaire completion.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of nurses surveyed agreed that catheter stabilization is an important aspect of nursing care, but this perception did not concur with current practice. Further research is needed to determine if catheter stabilization should be the standard of care.