Free The Prevention Of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections Term Paper Example

ECPI Medical Careers Institute

Introduction
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections are the most common cause of nosocomial infections contracted in healthcare facilities. They consist of asymptomatic bacteriuria as well asblatant urinary tract infections, comparable but different conditions (Trautner, 2010). There are several critical factors associated with these types of infections, including the length of stay in the healthcare facility and the duration of the placement of the catheter (Al-Hazmi, 2015, Discussion section, para.1). An aspect of the clinician’s job is to provide monitoring of the condition of the catheterized patient and to observe any signs or symptoms of the presence of a urinary tract infection. This paper explores the simple yet effective ways catheter-associated urinary tract infections can be prevented through infection control techniques.

Nursing Problem

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection is a presenting nursing problem because what is supposed to be a simple intervention to relieve patients is becoming the cause of unnecessary complications thus creating not only a problem to the health care providers but also to the patients. Patients with urinary catheters have been placed under my care and I know this is a preventable problem and as nurses it is part of our job to prevent this.

Current Research

According to a research in urinary tract infections, UTI prevention can be done by maintaining sterile technique during insertion and aseptic technique for catheter maintenance (Efthimiou and Skrepetis, 2013). The patient must be properly assessed in order to determine if he/she is in the condition fit for urinary catheter placement. This includes temporary relief of obstruction after a major surgery and accurate measurement of urine output of critically ill patients. Since the length of duration of the catheter is one of the leading causes of infection, placement should remain for as little time as possible. According to the same research, urinary catheter insertion should only be done by trained staff or trained family members. The most important practice in preventing infection is hand hygiene before and after contact with the patient. All the materials used in the procedure must be sterile and proper cleansing of the periurethral area must be done before the insertion. After the placement of the catheter, the drainage bag should be hung below the level of the patient’s bladder to prevent urine stasis or backup that can lead to infection (Efthimiou and Skrepetis, 2013)

Implementation

In a nursing unit that is seeing an increased rate in catheter-associated urinary tract infections education and adherence to policies is important in reducing infections. Staff training in catheter insertion, maintenance and daily monitoring on the duration of catheter use should be done. The electronic medical record should provide a system of surveillance for monitoring catheter insertion. (Al-Hazmi, 2015, Discussion section, para.3) Policies should be put into practice that requires documentation as well as audits of the following: insertion and removal dates, staff that inserted the catheter, and the use of aseptic and sterile techniques. The infection control unit should also monitor catheter-associated UTI along with both nurses and physicians.

Conclusion

All members of the team are responsible for decreasing UTI’s. The infection control team does routine surveillance; catheter insertion and maintenance audits done by the nursing team to maintain compliance and daily discussions with the medical team on discontinuing the catheter will all result in lower catheter infection rates. Education and training in collaboration with the infection control department are essential aspects of maintaining staff competencies and compliance.

References

Al-Hazmi, H. (2015). Role of duration of catheterization and length of hospital stay on the rate of catheter-related hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. Journal of Research and Reports in Urology, 7, 41-47. doi:10.2147/RRU.S75419.
Efthimiou, I., & Skrepetis, K. (2013). Prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Recent Advances in the Field of Urinary Tract Infections. InTech.
Trautner, B. (2010). Management of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI).
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, 23(1), 76-82. doi:
10.1097/QCO.0b013e328334dda8.