"The most important thing is to precribe the right catheter to the right person – it's the match that matters", Diane Newman, urology nurse for over 30 years, says.
We were happy to get an interview with her at ICS.
Diane Newman has been a nurse practitioner specializing in urology for more than three decades, and she is convinced that catheter choice do matter.
She treats patients with pelvic floor and voiding dysfunction and has a doctorate in nursing from Thomas Jefferson College of Nursing. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery. In this role, she conducts research on prevention of lower urinary tract symptoms and urologic catheters and devices.
Is there such a thing as a perfect catheter?
– There is a perfect catheter for each patient. My dilemma as a clinician though, is that I teach Clean Intermittent Catheterization (CIC) in my office and not in the patient's home, where it will be performed most of the time. So we can't always tell which one that is ideal. But except from that, the most important is that the catheter passes as smoothly as possible to avoid damage to the urethra, Diane Newman says.
Many studies show that patients are more compliant to the therapy if they are involved in the catheter choice, but Diane Newman also points out the new patients' need for support and recommendations.
– You need to asses that patient. I often recommend a catheter to start with but it might as well change after a couple of weeks, when the patient is more comfortable with the procedure and for example starts to go out more. When the needs change we can change the catheter accordingly, to better fit the patient.
New technology
Diane also emphasizes the importance of staying up to date on the new technology.
– I have been working in this area since the seventies and there has been a lot of positive changes, such as nicer catheters, better material and better coatings on these catheters. You want to go with the best technology, the most recent technology that makes sense for that patient.
