Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) are a latent and relevant problem among hospitalized patients. According to Gesmundo (2016), 40% of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) are due to urinary tract infections (UTIs), and 80% of these UTIs are attributed to indwelling catheters. Prolonged catheter use is a significant risk factor for developing CAUTIs in the clinical setting. Nurse-focused education plays a significant role in the prevention of CAUTIs. The intervention chosen for this paper is incorporating educational strategies into the patient’s care plan. In this article, research will be explicitly based on two materials that support the advantages of incorporating educational strategies into the patient’s plan of care to decrease the incidence of CAUTIs in post-up geriatric patients. This paper focuses on critically analyzing how the evidence from the external studies supports the intervention of the PICOT question.
PICOT Question
In post-up geriatric patients (P), does the incorporation of educational strategies into the patient’s plan of care and use of urinary catheters (I), compared to the use of urinary catheters alone (C), decrease the incidence of inpatient Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (O) over two weeks (T)?
Evidence Analyzes
The research performed by Meddings et al. (2016) emphasizes the role of educational interventions. Education interventions help nurses and patients with policies and protocols that should be applied when placing indwelling catheters and preventing UTIs. Educational strategies included in this article involve catheter restrictions and alternatives and emphasize the need for catheter replacement (Meddings et al., 2016). The article further highlights education involvement as the first step to helping patients and nurses understand proper catheter use more effectively (Meddings et al., 2016). Nurses can educate patients on the best alternative that can be used, such as intermittent straight catheterization and condom catheterization, which can be less harmful, therefore reducing the risk of infections. Stop orders and reminders also play a crucial role in helping patients reduce the level of utilization of catheters. The evidence from this article supports the proposed interventions because it reveals that nurses play a crucial role in applying educational strategies to reduce the risks of CAUTI by educating patients on proper maintenance. Also, the article’s findings suggest that using educational strategies reduces CAUTI rates when appropriately used.
The research performed by Gesmundo (2016) is an in-depth analysis that aims to evaluate the impact of a CAUTI education package on nurses’ knowledge of indwelling catheter management. The educational strategies covered in this research focus on expanding the knowledge of the nurse and patient. According to Gesmundo (2016), an educational package with multi-faceted teaching methods significantly impacted the nurses’ and patients’ knowledge regarding the prevention of CAUTIs. The educational package includes information such as aseptic techniques in insertion and maintenance, appropriate anti-microbial use, limiting the use of catheters, early removal, catheter alternatives, and maintaining unobstructed urine flow (Gesmundo, 2016). The evidence from this study supports the proposed intervention because it concludes that incorporating educational strategies into the patient’s plan of care enhances the nurse’s and patient knowledge of indwelling catheter management and CAUTI prevention, resulting in a decrease of CAUTI incidents.
Conclusion
This article concludes that educational strategies are crucial in lowering the incidents of CAUTIs in the hospital setting. The evidence from the first article supports the proposed intervention because it reveals that nurses play a crucial role in applying educational strategies to reduce the risks of CAUTI by educating patients on proper maintenance. The evidence from the second study supports the proposed intervention because it concludes that incorporating educational strategies into the patient’s plan of care enhances the nurse’s and patient knowledge of indwelling catheter management and CAUTI prevention. Both studies concluded that educational studies result in a decrease in CAUTI incidents.
References
Gesmundo, M. (2016). Enhancing nurses’ knowledge on catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention. Kai Tiaki Nursing Research, 7(1), 32–40.
Meddings, J., Rogers, M. A., Krein, S. L., Fakih, M. G., Olmsted, R. N., & Saint, S. (2016). Reducing unnecessary urinary catheter use and other strategies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection: An integrative review. BMJ Quality & Safety, 23(4), 277-289. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001774
Appendix
Legend
UTI- urinary tract infections
CAUTI- Catheter Urinary Tract Infections
IUC- Indwelling urinary Catheter
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Published On: 01-01-1970
