NURS 360: PICO Question: In males, do external urinary catheters or indwelling urinary catheters provide better outcomes for the patient?

Urinary catheters are one of the most often utilized invasive devices used in the hospital. “15–25% of all hospitalized patients are catheterized at some time during their hospital stay” (Kranz, Schmidt, Wagenlehner, & Schneidewind, 2020, p.2). These devices have a purpose but they come with consequences, some unavoidable. The aim of this research is to use the available evidence of catheterization to discover which option, an indwelling urinary catheter or an external catheter device, provides better outcomes by posing the least amount of risks to the male patient. At the conclusion of this study, the hope is to have an answer to which type of these device poses the least amount of risks in order to have the best evidence-based practice when the use of one of these devices is necessary.