Tips from TSE: Identify risk factors to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections
Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, February 27, 2009
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!
Physicians and nurses must work closely as a team to identify patients at high risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and carefully and accurately document findings in patients’ medical records. These intraprofessional team members must also share the opinion that the best means of preventing CAUTI is to reduce catheter use whenever possible.
Starting with comprehensive patient histories on arrival is essential to identify patients’ risk factors for developing a CAUTI or to determine whether they already have a UTI on admission.
According to current findings in the literature and a record review of patients with CAUTI, the following are risk factors:
- Gender (e.g., women are more likely to have UTIs than men)
- Advanced age
- History of urinary tract problems (e.g., enlarged prostate or urologic surgery)
- Neurologic conditions (e.g., spinal cord injury) causing neurogenic bladder problems
- Previous UTIs
- Previous and/or current abnormal voiding patterns
- Current catheter history
- Incontinence
- Comorbid conditions such as diabetes
- Immunosuppression
Editor’s note: This excerpt was adapted from the March issue of The Staff Educator. Discover all the benefits of subscribing to The Staff Educator!
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!
Related Products
-
Briefings on The Joint Commission
Briefings on The Joint Commission will help you with all of your accreditation and survey preparation needs. Every month...
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Learn Life Safety Code tips and interpretations for healthcare facilities with this in-depth monthly resource.
-
Strategies for Nurse Managers
Strategies for Nurse Managers is a 12-page monthly how-to newsletter that was created exclusively to help you save time...
-
Nurse Leader Weekly
Our informative free e-mail newsletter for nursing professionals delivers helpful tips and advice each week!
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- State medical board will hear unprofessional charges against OB-GYN
- The debate continues: Nurses who reported physician to the Texas Medical Board file federal appeal
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Don't let these sentinel events trigger falsely
- Arkansas woman convicted for HIPAA violation
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- Q&A: Coding for protein malnutrition
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Searched