5 Great Tips for Foley Catheter Insertion and Care

Real-life tips for Foley catheter insertion when things are not going as you expected

Foley catheter insertions may not seem like a lot of work at first. But sometimes you might be challenged by a difficult female patient with a difficult to locate urethra. Male patients can be challenging too. Here’s my tip list to the rescue

There are two ways to put a Foley catheter — the first is by the book like you learn in nursing school, and the second is how it's done for real, with real people. All you need is to do it fast, safely, and effectively.

Unlike nursing school, your patient is not made of plastic. He or she may be big and may have unfriendly anatomy and be unfriendly too. Foley catheter insertion is scary for most people. Imagine someone doing this procedure on you.

First things first

(1) Check the doctor's order thoroughly. (2) Get the Foley tray and make sure the Foley is the right French per order. If the French size is not specified in the order, call and clarify. If the patient already has a Foley inserted but needs to be changed, that's great because that old Foley is your friend; more on that in a minute.