7.1 Introduction
The elimination of waste products from the body is a basic need. It is also a natural process, and most healthy people have regular fecal and urinary elimination habits. When people become dependent on others for care, elimination habits are often disrupted, and control can be lost. As HCA students, you will become familiar with alternative ways of assisting clients with their elimination needs.
When assisting clients with urinary and bowel elimination, it is important to understand what type of care activity is required to help the client meet their needs. There are two types of care activities:
- Tasks: care activities that HCAs are educated and trained to perform as part of their assigned HCA role (for example, assisting a client to use the toilet).
- Restricted activities: higher-risk care activities outlined in health professional regulations that an HCA cannot perform without authorization (delegation) by a regulated health professional, such as a registered nurse (for example, giving a rectal suppository or enema). Restricted activities are not considered HCA tasks.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this unit, the successful student will be able to:
- Describe the guidelines for maintaining normal urinary and bowel elimination.
- List the required observations for urine and bowel movements.
- List factors affecting urinary and bowel elimination.
- Describe the care required by clients experiencing elimination problems (catheters, suppositories, enemas, ostomies).
- Describe procedures for collecting urine and stool specimens.
Terms to Know
- Bedpan
- Bladder
- Colostomy
- Condom catheter
- Constipation
- Defecation
- Diarrhea
- Excreted
- Fecal impaction
- Fecal incontinence
- Feces
- Flatulence
- Flatus
- Foreskin
- Frequency
- Ileostomy
- Indwelling catheter
- Meatus
- Stool
- Ostomy
- Peristalsis
- Shaft
- Uncircumcised
- Urgency
- Urinal
- Urinate
- Urinary incontinence
- Urinary catheter
- Void
A container into which bowel or bladder elimination may occur. These devices are helpful for people who have mobility issues and have difficulty getting out of bed.
A muscular organ which stores urine.
A surgically created artificial opening between the colon and the abdominal wall.
A soft, flexible sheath that is placed over the penis and connected to tubing leading to a drainage bag. It is used to manage urinary incontinence.
Condition in which a person has delayed or infrequent bowel movements, and the stool is hard, dry, and difficult to pass.
The process of eliminating waste from the digestive tract.
Frequent and loose bowel movements that are often watery.
Eliminated or removed from the body.
Hard, dry stool that stays in the rectum.
The inability to control defecation.
Body waste material discharged through the anus.
Excessive flatus or gas in the intestinal tract.
Gas passed through the anus.
The outer skin that covers the end of the penis and can be retracted.
Refers to how often a person voids over 24 hours.
A surgically created artificial opening between the ileum (final section of the small intestine) and the abdominal wall.
A urinary tube (catheter) that is left in the bladder to drain urine. It is held in place by a water-filled balloon, which prevents it from falling out.
Urinary opening.
Feces excreted from the colon.
A surgically created artificial opening in the abdomen for elimination of feces or urine.
Muscular contractions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
The long part of the penis.
A person who has not had the foreskin of the penis removed.
The feeling of needing to urinate.
A container or receptacle into which the client urinates. Handheld urinals are available to assist clients who have mobility issues.
To empty urine from the bladder.
Loss of bladder control.
A tube inserted into the bladder through the urethra to drain urine.
To empty urine from the bladder.
