A nurse-driven process for timely removal of urinary catheters

Aspects of Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections Associated with Urinary Bladder Catheterisation and Their Implementation in Nursing Practice

In the case of the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) related to healthcare provision, high-quality and comprehensively provided nursing care is essential. Implementation of preventive strategies is based on recommended procedures, and the introduction of whole sets of measures has been shown to be effective. The objective of this research is to find out whether the providers of acute bed care have implemented the steps of CAUTI prevention, and specifically which measures leading to improved quality of care in the area of urinary infections are already in place. To determine this, we carried out quantitative research. Data were collected using a questionnaire-based investigation; we used two non-standardised and one standardised questionnaire, and the respondents were general nurses in management positions (n = 186). The results revealed that result-related CAUTI indicators are monitored by only one-third of the respondents, and records of catheterisation indication are not kept by 17.3% of general nurses. The results of the research showed deficiencies in the monitoring of CAUTI outcome and process indicators, and a weakness of the implemented preventive measures is the maintenance of catheterisation documentation. Periodic CAUTI prevention training is not implemented as recommended. It is positive that there are well-working teams of HAI prevention experts in hospitals.