A few months ago I received a donation of some 700 Foley catheters from a pharmacy in Bellevue. Some of the catheters went to the nursing lab for the students to learn and practice procedures on, the several hundred others have been sitting on shelves in my office awaiting shipment.
Picture this, used urinary catheters washed being washed and hung up to dry on bushes. That's the reality in many places around the world. Studies show that in the US alone approx. 25% of hospitalized patients with indwelling urinary catheters develop bladder infections, 30% of those go on to develop a systemic infection. How imagine what these numbers might be like in places where the catheters don't come out of sterile packages.
A friend of mine from work had been a nurse in the Philippines for several years before coming to settle in the United states with her husband and children. She still keeps in contact with those she worked with and sends several packages a year to friends and family still living in the area. Long story short, we have found a home for our Foleys and developed an unofficial "Foleys for the Philippines" program. We're hoping to be able to start shipping the Foleys in May.
Kind of funny the things you get excited about when you're a nurse... :)
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