Intermittent self-catheterisation: the community nurse's role in identifying and overcoming the barriers

Approximately 50 000 people in the UK regularly perform intermittent self-catheterisation (ISC), an invasive procedure whereby the patient passes a non-retaining catheter into their bladder to assist in the drainage of urine when normal voiding is not possible (Wilks et al, 2020). This is due to chronic or acute urinary retention, in which the bladder is no longer able to empty, causing stagnation of urine (Balhi and Mrabet, 2020). Urinary retention may result from paralysis of the bladder muscle, making urination slow and painful, or from poor opening of the sphincter during urination (Balhi and Mrabet, 2020). It is usually performed as a clean (rather than aseptic/sterile) technique by patients or their family or personal carer; for this method, the use of a disposable or dry, reusable catheter is recommended, preceded by cleaning of the hands and perineum with a non-antiseptic solution (Balhi and Mrabet, 2020).