What are key nursing actions for monitoring a patient on continuous bladder irrigation?

• A. Monitor quality of drainage, titrate inflow rate, and manually irrigate as needed
• B. Only monitor urine color
• C. Set inflow rate and never adjust
• D. Avoid any manual irrigation

Answer: (A)

Maintaining continuous bladder irrigation requires ongoing assessment of drainage and active management of the irrigation flow. The nurse must monitor the quality of drainage—looking at color, clarity, presence of clots, and the amount of urine—to judge how well the catheter is maintaining patency. Based on what’s observed, the inflow rate should be titrated to keep drainage steady and prevent bladder distention or clot formation. When clots or obstruction occur, manual irrigation using sterile technique is performed to restore patency and ensure continuous drainage. This approach prevents complications and keeps the irrigation effective. Simply watching urine color, fixing a rate without adjustment, or avoiding any irrigation when obstruction is possible would fail to prevent blockage or overdistension.