Myths surrounding the use of urinary catheters: a summary of key beliefs that inhibit acute care nurses from altering their use of urinary catheters.

Nurses frequently base their use and care of indwelling urinary catheters on long held beliefs that contemporary research is disproving. As an excellent place of attachment, the catheter permits rapid migration of organisms into the bladder, independent of the position of the catheter bag. For treatment of bladder distension, intermittent catheterization is preferable to leaving an indwelling catheter in place. Regardless of the amount of urine obtained, intermittent catheters are usually not intended to remain in the bladder. Irrigation of a bypassing urinary catheter forces organisms into the upper urinary tract. The process of irrigating blocked catheters (except for urology patients) is no longer the preferred intervention. Instead, catheters obstructed from prolonged use must be replaced with new ones or, whenever possible, left out. As a foreign device, urinary catheters in acute care must be recognized as a potential health threat. Indwelling urinary catheter must not be used for nursing convenience to ease heavy workloads, nor left in place as a result of patient coercion.