Point of Care Ultrasound Bladder Volume Calculation on the Acute Medical Unit

Nursing staff, healthcare assistants (HCAs) and other healthcare professionals on the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) were taught a Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) skill during a twenty minute session. Practitioners learned how to take bladder volume measurements with the Butterfly iQ, a portable ultrasound device which provides a visually-aided method of volume measurement. A Likert scale was used to measure the confidence that staff had in performing volume measurements with the AMU automated scanners, and with the semi-automated Butterfly iQ. After the teaching session, confidence reported by practitioners in using the semi-automated visual method was significantly higher than confidence reported in using the automated non-visual scanners (t < 0.001). Minimal time and expense was required to teach practitioners how to perform this skill. Training nurses in POCUS for bladder visualisation and bladder volume calculation is easy and practicable.