Date of Doctor of Nursing Practice Project Completion
Spring 5-1-2024
Faculty Advisor
Latarsha Cheatham
Abstract
Implementing a Two-Nurse Indwelling Urinary Catheter Insertion Process with a Checklist to Decrease Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections in the Intensive Care Unit
PURPOSE The purpose of this quality improvement project was to decrease CAUTI rates within the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by implementing a two-nurse indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) insertion process utilizing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) IUC evidence-based checklist.
BACKGROUND The project was implemented in a 52-bed Medical-Surgical ICU of a large academic specialty hospital in the Southwestern United States of America (USA). At the project site, there was an increase in CAUTI rates above the organization’s target of zero.
METHODOLOGY Baseline CAUTI rates were obtained. The project lead, unit managers, and clinical nurse leaders educated the unit staff on the two-nurse catheter insertion process and the AHRQ IUC checklist during daily shift huddles. The AHRQ IUC checklist was dispersed to staff for the two-nurse Foley catheter insertion process. The project lead tracked the data and provided monthly staff updates during the three-month implementation phase.
RESULTS The mean CAUTI rate per 1000 device days for pre-intervention was 0.73 (peak rate of 2.2), and the post-intervention rate was 0.5 (peak rate of 1.5).
IMPLICATIONS Reducing the number of reported CAUTIs can lead to improved patient outcomes, higher patient satisfaction scores, decreased length of stay, and reduced hospital costs. The quality improvement process allows nurses to obtain higher compliance with proper insertion techniques and sterility. Implementing the two-nurse Foley catheter insertion process with a checklist should be considered as it promotes teamwork and real-time feedback.
Keywords
indwelling catheter, checklist, two-nurse, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, CAUTI, ICU
Recommended Citation
Austin, Alexa, "Implementing a Two-Nurse Indwelling Urinary Catheter Insertion Process with a Checklist to Decrease Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections in the Intensive Care Unit" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract. 3.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dnp_abstract/3