Q: We have a problem with urinary drainage bags touching the floor when the resident is in bed, especially if they have a low bed. Do you have any suggestions for us?
A: This is one area the surveyors love to look for. It’s an easy infection prevention tag to give out when the catheter bag touches the floor.
Over the years, I have seen many things used to prevent the bags from touching.Those ideas include placing a basin on the floor so the urinary bag touches the basin and not the floor.
In the morning, the basins are collected, sanitized and replaced when the resident goes back to bed.
Also, there is a urinary bag called a Fig Leaf cath bag. It’s a cover bag, which protects it from the floor. Leg bags also are a consideration. There is a 1,500 cc leg bag available. Medicare B may not pay for this type of bag, but it may be worth purchasing to prevent a deficiency.
Don’t forget to constantly educate your staff about not allowing bags to touch the floor and the potential dangers if they do.
Of course, it also should be a facility’s goal to have as few catheters as humanly possible. Many facilities have made reducing use of catheters — and, by extension, reducing potential infection — part of a Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement program.
But when you do have to use bags, good tools exist. One interesting one I saw for a resident in a wheelchair was when a facility used a paint roller pan — the kind you use when you roll paint to cover a room. They took elastic cords and managed to strap the pan with the elastic cords under the wheelchair, so it laid evenly under the chair and was held straight with the lower cross bars of the wheelchair. They then laid the Foley bag on the pan. It kept the tubing from touching the floor or getting caught in the wheels or the brakes, and it worked quite well, too.
Have any tricks to share? Email me.
From the July/August 2022 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
