Witnessed unsterile procedure and feeling terrible about it

I am a new grad and have been working as an RN for 5 months. Everyone I work with is very experienced and I am definitely the newbie. Yesterday I witnessed an LPN with 30 yrs experience straight cath a male without using sterile gloves. I asked if she had sterile gloves and the iodine that is necessary (we didnt have a kit so all items had to be gathered seperately). I found the iodine and brought it to the bed side. She then asked for a packaged wipe on the bedside to clean the insertion area. I asked her if she wanted me to do the iodine and she replied that she was just going to do the wipe but I could if I wanted to. I did and realized that she never put on sterile gloves only clean gloves. She completed the procedure without ever applying sterile gloves and I am feeling absolutely awful that I didnt stop her and tell her she needed sterile gloves. The whole procedure was totally against what I learned in nursing school. I am thinking about going to the nurse in charge of training and telling her what happened in confidence. Thinking maybe she can hold in inservice on proper techinique. I do not feel comfortable talking to the nurse who did the procedure about it. It would not go well. I have been stressed about this for the last 24 hrs! Any advice? I'm afraid I could be held responsible for not intervening as well.
Please let us know how that works out for you; turning that nurse in to your supervisor for not wearing sterile gloves but instead wore clean gloves.

Ahh new grads lolYes this was poor practice but seriously? Lol

Do you know for sure that this person isn't someone who routinely self-caths, and as such, no longer requires it to be a sterile procedure?You, a student, will not be held responsible for what a bedside nurse did.

When I worked with day patients who lied in the community it was a clean procedure. Many time the men didn't want the betadine wash and would clean themselves with a washcloth.What's the entire story?

Yes this person does self caths at home! So this doesnt have to be a sterile procedure? That would be a weight off my shoulders! I am not student, I am now a new RN. The person doing this was an LPN with 30 yrs experience. My supervisor had done the procedure in front of me two weeks prior with the same patient and had used sterile technique.

Try to worry about what you do and how you do it. I would stay out of the other nurses business. I would not under any circumstances report her to the charge nurse. That is going to open up a whole can of retaliation towards you and no one is going to want to work with you for fear you might "see" something else you don't like. If she did something wrong that is on her not on you. This is not likely to kill the patient. Worst case scenario? The patient may or may not get a uti. I would not lose any more sleep over it. It is pretty hard to stay completely sterile while putting in a cath but we do try on my floor to do it that way. But if you are new, you should keep your head down and try not to make waves. Was what she did right? Nope! Should you take it upon yourself to but in? Nope! Stay out of it and keep your mouth shut.

Being a new nurse is really not fun! One of the hardest parts is differentiating between what you learn in school and the real world. So I guess your saying this is not a big deal and I should move on?

Quote from kloneDo you know for sure that this person isn't someone who routinely self-caths, and as such, no longer requires it to be a sterile procedure?You, a student, will not be held responsible for what a bedside nurse did.

Quote from lilaclover6984Yes this was poor practice but seriously? Lol

Quote from cblake4293Being a new nurse is really not fun! One of the hardest parts is differentiating between what you learn in school and the real world. So I guess your saying this is not a big deal and I should move on?

I like your suggestion of an in service preferably mandatory. As for " stay out of it" That's not very sound advice, they pay you to advocate for, use and be held accountable to a standard, not look the other way, even if a patient wasn't harmed.

I would guess, like me, this LPN thought that for patients who self-cath at home, sterile procedure is not necessary. I knew that at home, clean technique was fine. I did not know there are different standards in that situation for in the hospital (I work in OB, don't see too many people who have to self-cath). It sounds like this is a good learning opportunity for the staff at large. Good luck to you!