WASHINGTON, DC – The product insert in the Foley kits at George Washington hospital claim that the bags will hold up to five liters of urine. Critical care unit (CCU) nurse Joe Samuels decided to put this limit to the test the other day just to be sure.
Jenna Stover, a seasoned critical care nurse, was assigned to an elderly patient with diabetes insipidus on the November 11 for her night shift. The twelve-hour shift was uneventful, and at the end of the shift, Stover wrapped up but unfortunately forgot to empty the urine bag.
Samuels came on shift the next morning. He took over Stover’s assignment, but early in the day he got busy with an admission. It was not until about 4 pm that afternoon when he noticed his elderly patient’s Foley bag was about the size of a basketball. He then delegated the task of emptying it to the personal care assistant (PCA) Kathy Hamner.
Hamner approached the bag tentatively, but ultimately opted to declare that she “wasn’t comfortable” emptying the bag because “it might burst” on her. Samuels decided to attempt to delegate this task to other employees. Ultimately he was unsuccessful in finding someone that wouldn’t mind the explosion of urine.
EMS was called to the scene and they ultimately opted to use a bomb-diffusing robot to empty it. The robot emptied it, and it drained and drained and drained. Twenty minutes and ten graduated containers later, a total of 7.5 liters had been emptied from the Foley bag without incident. In a statement to the press, Nurse Samuels reported that his test was successful and that the Foley bag’s capacity was indeed consistent with product insert claims.
