Surgical Unit Reflection

The surgical unit is providing me with such a diverse learning environment. I feel that over the past three weeks I have experienced a wide variety of clients. Each client has had different health challenges and provided me with tremendous learning opportunities. Three weeks ago I cared for a client who had a partial nephrectomy. In the morning I went in to do my morning safety check and introduce myself. The client was extremely friendly and talked a lot, making it almost difficult to get out of the room. He was on a PCA pump and Optiflow. As part of my morning safety check I assessed his dressing and his lung sounds, his dressing was dry and intact and his lung sounds where clear. The client had a spirometer in his room, I asked …show more content…
He had fractured his pelvis in a mountain bike accident. In report I came to know that he had a Foley Catheter and that needed to be taken out. This was my first catheter experience outside of lab. When I went to remove the catheter I explained to the patient that there was a small balloon that was filled with water that was anchoring it in his bladder and that I would remove the water and then begin to pull the catheter out. When talking to him about the process of removing the catheter I told him that once I removed the water, if he wanted he could remove it himself. He decided that he would rather I remove it. During removal I suggested to the client that he take a deep breath to help with any discomfort he may feel. I was able to remove it efficiently by curling up in my hand as I removed it. Once it was out I did a check in with the client to see how he was doing. It came to my attention that the client was unable to void before the surgery, so I check in with frequently to assess if he was able to void after the removal of the catheter. The client began to say that he was unable to void but felt as though he needed to. I scanned his bladder to discover that there was about 500 ml in his bladder. I routinely checked in with my client to see if he had been able to void. About 45 min to an hour later he was still unable to void and expressed that he was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I decided to scan his bladder again. When I scanned his bladder I discovered that he was now hold approximately 800 ml of urine. After discussing the situation with my primary nurse I was able to call the surgeon and update him on what was going on for the client and then pass the phone to my primary nurse so she could take an order to put the Foley back in. I let my primary nurse know what was going on for my client and let her know my instructor would be back in ten minutes and