Catheter Drainage Bag Care and Ostomy Pouch Preparation

Care for Catheter Drainage Bags

• You fill the drainage bags with vinegar and bleach by using the funnel that is in the bathroom. It is your preference to do this with or without gloves. You will have spillage if you do not hold the funnel on the tip of the tube tightly when pouring the bleach, vinegar and water.
• Fill the drainage bag (Vinegar / Bleach) up to the 100cc level. Then, fill the drainage bags with water up to the 1000cc level.
• In the morning, cleanse the drainage bag with Vinegar. Soak it for about five minutes. Rinse well, and hang it on the side of the drying rack in the bathtub with the tip open.
• In the afternoon, cleanse the drainage bag with Bleach; let it soak in the bathroom sink for the evening Caregiver. Flush the bag 4-5 times with water from the pink cup. The reason is that Bleach has a strong odor.
• The evening Caregiver should hang the day drainage bag on the right handle of the Hoyer Lift, keeping the tip open to allow the drainage bag to dry overnight, and take it in Carolyn’s bedroom for the next morning.
• Carolyn will inform you as to when to throw the drainage bags down the chute.

Preparation of Ostomy Pouches

• Shake the pouch open with two or three fingers, so it will open, and does not stick together.
• Squirt four or five squirts of cooking spray directly down the inside of the pouch. Please, avoid getting the cooking spray on the gas valve. There is a small grey window near the opening of the pouch adjacent to the white rectangle. Cut a hole through the window going through to the front side of the pouch so you can see the hole from the front side.
• The evening Caregiver will prepare for the morning pouch change. Cut the pouch as described above. Put one of the bowls on Carolyn’s bureau: with one piece of paper towel, three gloves, three gauzes and a plastic bag. Fold the plastic bag and put it under the bowl. Fold the paper towel neatly and put it in the bowl. Put the gauzes, pouch, and the gloves in the bowl.