University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, CO.
University of Colorado, College of Nursing, Aurora, CO.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are common, morbid, and costly. Nearly 25% of hospitalized patients are catheterized yearly, and 10% develop urinary tract infections. Evidence-based guidelines exist for indwelling urinary catheter management but are not consistently followed.
A pre/post intervention design was used in this quality improvement project to test the impact of nurse-driven interventions based on current evidence to reduce CAUTIs in hospitalized patients on 2 medical/surgical units. Interventions consisted of hospital-wide strategies including policy and product improvements and unit-specific strategies that focused on a review of current evidence to guide practice.
The number of catheter days decreased from 3.01 to 2.2 (P = .018) on the surgery unit and from 3.53 to 2.7 (P = .076) on the medical unit. CAUTI rates were too low to achieve significant reduction. Product cost savings were estimated at $52,000/year.
Guidelines derived from research and other sources of evidence can successfully improve patient outcomes. Nurse-driven interventions, combined with system-wide product changes, and patient and family involvement may be effective strategies that reduce CAUTI.
Written by:
Oman KS, Makic MB, Fink R, Schraeder N, Hulett T, Keech T, Wald H. Are you the author?
Reference: Am J Infect Control. 2011 Nov 1. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2011.07.018
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22047997
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