Role and effectiveness of an information guide in improving catheter confidence and knowledge in junior clinicians

Abstract

Referrals to the on-call urology team for catheter-related problems are common. Experience and previous studies highlight that urology exposure and catheter skills are unsatisfactory in undergraduate training as well as in subsequent junior clinical practice. These deficiencies may compromise patient safety and delay appropriate treatment. This study aimed to assess catheter insertion confidence and associated knowledge in junior doctors and advanced nurse practitioners in a single teaching hospital and evaluate whether this could be improved by introducing a freely available catheter information and problem-solving guide. An online survey assessing confidence inserting two and three-way urethral catheters, changing suprapubic catheters and assessing knowledge related to common catheter problems was delivered to all non-registrar junior clinicians. Based on these results, an information guide was created and made freely available to these clinicians. The survey was then repeated to check for catheter-related knowledge and confidence. A total of 58 junior clinicians responded to the initial survey and 61 to the repeat survey. Catheterisation confidence and knowledge was generally low in the first survey but improved in all areas and across all grades after the introduction of the information guide. Of the respondents, 100% thought the guide was helpful and 93.4% said they would use it in future. A catheter information guide is a simple and effective method of improving junior clinician confidence with catheter insertion and managing catheter-associated problems. This study does not directly correlate with a defined level of evidence.