HOME COMMUNITY NURSE

  1. Sister will attempt to remove your bladder catheter between 7am to 8am in the morning.
  2. She will give you all the instructions for the day, which will include information about your voided volume chart.
  3. Find an old ice-cream container and place it under the toilet seat every time you pass urine to measure the volume voided in mls, using an old plastic measuring cup.
  4. Read carefully the accompanying leaflet, “Information for your trial of void after Pelvic Floor Surgery” from Dr. Cario’s office.
  5. Sister will contact you every 3-4 hours to determine your progress.
  6. If you can’t pass urine, she will return to pass an in/out catheter to determine how much residual urine you are retaining, or she may leave the catheter indwelling and on free drainage.
  7. By the end of the day Sister will determine if you are voiding satisfactorily by phone or with a return visit.
  8. If the voiding is not entirely successful she will replace the catheter and leave in on free drainage to return in 5-7 days for another “trial of void”.
  9. If you have any problems overnight or after hours (inability voiding, incomplete voiding, severe frequency, urgency or incontinence) you can ring Dr Cario’s after hours service at Calvary Hurstville Community Private Hospital to speak to the Sister or the Duty Registrar. If the catheter needs to be replaced after hours, this can be done at any time by the Sister at Calvary Hurstville Community Private Hospital’s labour ward department (9579 7777).
  10. Remember that difficulty voiding is a very common and a normal event after pelvic floor and incontinence surgery due to the nature of the stitches placed around the urethra and the dramatic change of position of the bladder. It does not matter if you void successfully on day 1, day 5, day 10 or thereafter. It does not interfere with your recovery after the operation and is a temporary inconvenience to you. It has no relationship to the final outcome of your surgery.
  11. Remember, you must relax, relax, relax and your bladder will empty properly only when it is ready. Straining will do nothing to improve the outcome and merely serve to make you anxious.
  12. Please ring Dr Cario’s perioperative nursing Sister in the rooms the following working day to let her know how you are progressing.
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