CAUTI Prevention and Guideline Education

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by foley urinary catheters, accounts for 80% of all nosocomial infections encountered in the hospital setting. The cost of all nosocomial infections in the US is about $340 million dollars annually. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010 put forth recommendations for Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) that, when followed, may reduce the number of CAUTIs between 20% and 70%. CAUTIs are associated with increased costs, longer patient length of stay, morbidity, and decreased patient satisfaction. When these suggestions are followed, the hospital will reduce foley catheter infection rates, and the patients will become more satisfied with their care. The objective of this project was to teach practitioners that by following these recommendations and being more vigilant, the hospital unit staff can reduce CAUTIs; practitioners were informed of the appropriate reasons for insertions of foley catheters, the wrong reasons to place them or keep them, and , especially, the importance of removing them within 24-48 hours after a post-operative procedure to prevent infection. In addition, the hospital committee was presented a proposal-guideline on foley insertion. It is important to note that, as the staff was taught and posters of the preventive steps needed were posted in common areas, the infection rate started to decline with the hope to decrease the infection rate by 20% through March 2015.