Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are a serious concern in the medical world. It is the most common nosocomial infection accounting for 40% of all hospital acquired infections (Mori, 2014, p.15). Nurses play a large part in decreasing the number of infections associated with urinary catheters by following the correct protocols and precautions discussed in the study. The following paper provides a background on the study of CAUTIs, the methods of the study, the results of the study, and the ethical considerations. .
Background of Study.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections can cause many complications including extended hospital stays and can even lead to death. According to Mori (2014), "80% of hospital-acquired UTIs are due to indwelling urinary catheters; hospitals and nursing homes combined have more than 1 million cases of catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI) annually" (p.16). The study is to find ways to reduce the number of CAUTIs in patients. They found that the use of nurse-driven protocols to reduce the duration and incidence of catheterization helped to improve patient outcomes. The purpose of the study was to "evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-driven indwelling urinary catheter removal protocol in an acute care setting" (Mori, 2014, p.15). The objective of the study was to evaluate the need for a nurse-driven protocol for a removal policy. Doing this should "produce a positive outcome of catheter need assessment and prompt catheter removal" (Mori, 2014, p.17). .
Methods of Study.
The research method used for this study was a quantitative method. The number of patients with indwelling catheters were counted by a certified nurse specialist (CNS) prior to the study including the number of patients with a need for indwelling catheters versus the number of patients without a great need. From there a team of nurse specialists, infection control specialists, and physicians was formed.