Living with an indwelling urethral catheter in a community setting: Exploring triggers for unscheduled community nurse “out-of-hours” visits

What is it about?

Individuals living at home with an dwelling urethral catheter can have outcomes that often create a double-edged burden on patients and their relative carers and on the “out-of-hours” provision for community nurse services. The qualitative aspect of this study explored the experiences of community patients living with a urethral catheter and those caring for them. This information was gathered using individual interviews with patients, their relative carers, qualified community nurses, augmented home carers and healthcare assistant. Quantitative data in relation to frequency, duration and reason for visits were extracted from the community nurse “out-of-hours” service database. This revealed that indwelling urethral catheter consequences accounted for 20% of all community nurses unscheduled “out-of-hours” visits. Qualitative data confirmed that health and social care staff felt knowledgeable and skilled in urethral catheter management and highlighted that patients and relative carers felt poorly equipped to manage the situation when something went wrong. Many patients described the catheter as being a debilitating source of anxiety and pain that reduced their quality of life. They often feel isolated as well as lacking in knowledge, skills and information on catheter management. Available relevant information resources could increase patient and relative carer confidence, encourage self-care and problem solving, as well as facilitate meaningful consistent dialogue between patients and those who provide them with help and support. Overall conclusion: better patient information resources regarding urethral catheter management have potential to improve patient and relative carer quality of life and reduce service provision burden.

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Why is it important?

The findings highlight a gap in service provision that can be readily addressed to improve the quality of life for individuals at home with an indwelling catheter and also their family and carers