If you have elderly or disabled relatives living with you at home, you will have to hire a private nursing aid or perform all health care tasks yourself. Private health care professionals are expensive and most families prefer to care for their elderly relatives themselves. This means you should learn how to handle equipment like catheters, blood pressure monitors, and other medical tools.

One of the most common medical equipment you will need for elderly patients is a suprapubic catheter. This is a plastic tube inserted into a tiny hole in the abdomen. This piece of equipment is necessary for patients with urinary retention problems and other health problems related to post surgery care. It is important to keep the catheter sanitary and free of bacteria to prevent infection.

You health care provider can give you medical supplies necessary for cleaning the catheter. You can also find catheter cleaning kits at your local pharmacy. It is essential to remove the catheter occasionally to clean it or replace it with a new one. To get it sanitized, start by washing your hands well by scrubbing for at least 15 seconds with antibacterial soap and warm water.

Dry your hands with a clean towel before handling the catheter or the dressing on the patient. Remove the old dressing with care. Make sure that you do not accidentally pull the catheter as you remove the dressing. Examine the old dressing before throwing it away. Check it for discharge, blood or foul smelling drainage. These are signs of an infection. Throw the soiled dressing in the bin.

Before handling fresh dressing, wash your hands again as before to get rid of any bacteria from the used dressing. Wash the catheter and skin surrounding it with a sanitary wash cloth. Dip the cloth in soapy water and clean the catheter next to the patient’s skin. Clean the tube too starting from the part nearest the skin going away from the patient’s body.

Another option is to bathe the patient’s entire body at the same time you plan to clean catheters. Make sure you have the necessary medical supplies handy after cleaning to replace the dressing with a clean one. Before starting to clean and removing the old dressing, check if you have some hydrogen peroxide, cotton swabs, medical tape, and fresh dressing supplies.