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Postoperative urinary retention : an exploratory study

Postoperative urinary retention (PUR) is a common problem seen after surgery, particularly after orthopedic surgery. There has been a great deal of research done surrounding the causes of PUR and the optimal treatment for PUR, all with conflicting results. Little research has been done with orthopedic nurses to find out how they actually treat PUR, and on what information they base those treatment decisions. Evidence-based practice has been gaining popularity recently and highlights the need for nurses to make treatment decisions based on sound research, patient preferences, clinical expertise, and taking into consideration health care resources and the clinical setting (DiCenso, Ciliska, & Guyatt, 2005). This study investigated nurses' views on the definition of PUR, how they assessed for PUR, how they treated PUR and what they based their treatment decisions on. Ten nurses who worked on orthopedic units were interviewed using a semi-structured format consisting of four questions. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim by the student researcher. Qualitative description, as described by Sandelowski (2000), was used to analyze data. All nurses defined PUR fairly similarly. Various contributing factors for PUR were mentioned, some that were studied in the literature, and some that were not. Each nurse had a slightly different way of treating PUR, and 'ward routine' was also described differently. Study results point to a need for more research and education in the area of PUR so that all nurses are treating PUR in the same manner based on the same sound knowledge base.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-03202011-213608
Date29 March 2011
CreatorsBetker, Amanda
ContributorsGoodridge, Donna, Woods, Phil, Donnelly, Glenn
PublisherUniversity of Saskatchewan
Source SetsUniversity of Saskatchewan Library
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-03202011-213608/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

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