Reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Project

Practice Problem: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are prevalent and responsible for an estimated 13,000 deaths annually in the United States. Reported cases of CAUTIs remain disproportionately high at a rehabilitation center located in South Texas. PICOT: This evidence-based project answered the following question: In rehabilitation patients, what is the effect of a nurse-driven protocol (NDP) CAUTI bundle on the number of indwelling urinary catheter-related infections, compared to the current practice, over a 12-week time period? Evidence: Twenty high-quality studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria recommended using an NDP CAUTI bundle, education, and champions to round the unit to decrease the number of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Intervention: The evidence-based intervention utilized the implementation of an NDP CAUTI bundle. The intervention bundle included catheter indication, hand hygiene, an insertion technique, maintenance, ongoing assessment to evaluate catheter need, and documentation. Outcome: The evaluation of the outcome measures demonstrated that the CAUTI rate decreased from six incidences in 2019 to two from January to May 2020. There were zero incidences during the project implementation from June to August 2020, and the number of catheter days decreased from 59% at baseline to 41% post-intervention. Conclusion: The implementation of a nurse-driven protocol CAUTI bundle, education, and champions in the unit were successful interventions that decreased the catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates in the rehabilitation center. Keywords: catheter-associated urinary tract infections, nurse-driven protocol CAUTI bundle, quality improvemen