The Effects of Nursing Education on Decreasing Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection Rates

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) account for 40% of all nosocomial infections in the United States, affecting nearly 900,000 patients per year. The indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) is a widely utilized device in modern hospital environments, yet they are not always used appropriately in hospital settings and can result in prolonged use and improper management, increasing risk of infections and length of stay. Nurses are the primary champions to promote preventative measures, provide patient education, and evaluate evidence-based practice (EBP) strategies to decrease CAUTIs. The purpose of this study was to determine if nursing education on EBP guidelines could decrease CAUTI rates in hospitalized patients on a medical surgical unit. A quasi-experimental, one group, before-and-after design was used to evaluate changes in CAUTI rates before and after the educational intervention in a hospital in the southeastern United States among staff of 63 nurses. The baseline unidentified CAUTI rate of the selected population was provided by the organization prior to the educational intervention. There were 55 nurses who attended the educational session and the post-CAUTI rate was evaluated 1 month after the educational intervention. At the end of the study period, analysis of CAUTI rates were conducted using a chi square test to evaluate whether there was a significant difference in the CAUTI rates. A statistically significant difference was found in the pre-to post-CAUTI rate (p \u3c 0.05). The results of this study demonstrated that educating nurses on the CDC- recommended EBP guidelines and providing them with leadership supports significantly decreased CAUTI rates on a medical surgical unit. These findings suggest that using an effective approach to decrease CAUTI rates can create social change and initiate additional planning strategies for all healthcare settings