Effects of Urinary Catheter Education for Prostatectomy Patients

1 Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for U.S. men (American Cancer Society, 2013). In a 2012 medical review, the American Cancer Society estimated that approximately 238,590 new cases of prostate cancer will occur in the U.S. in 2013. Radical prostatectomy (RP) by retropubic or robotic ap proach is a surgical option used to treat localized prostate cancer. Hospital length of stay (LOS) after RP has decreased. In the University HealthSystem Con sortium Clinical database, the mean LOS between 2003 and the second quarter of 2007 for centers with the highest case volume of RP was 2.09 days (Mitchell et al., 2009). Patients undergoing RP at the study site are routinely dismissed within 1.5 days. After dismissal, their indwelling urinary catheter remains in place for one to three weeks. Thus, these patients need to know how to manage their urinary catheter and drainage bags. Previous research has demonstrated that patients and their significant others often experience catheter-associated anxiety (Burt, Caelli, Moore, & Anderson, 2005; Davison, Moore, MacMillan, Bisaillon, & Wiens, 2004; Moore & Estey, 1999; Vickers-Douglas, Hathaway, Wang, & Judy, 2007). Anecdotal reports from staff nurses at the study site indicate that patients and their significant others who participate in a preoperative education class were less anxious, had fewer questions, and mastered urinary catheter management skills more quickly than patients who did not participate in the class. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of preoperative urinary catheter management education on self-reported anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] score) among patients undergoing RP. Aims were to also identify patients’ confidence level, frequency of follow-up calls to physicians after hospital dismissal, and nursing time spent in providing postoperative education to determine how the anxiety level impacted these variables.