Practice is more effective in reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract infections (CAUTI)
Which practice is more effective in reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract infections (CAUTI) in the long-term facility? A CAUTI is an infection of the urinary tract that develops in a patient who has (or had) an indwelling urinary catheter in place at the time of the infection or within 48 hours of it starting; an idea focuses on evidence-based practice (Ferguson,2018) A preventable cause of UTI is the use of long-term indwelling urinary catheters. One of the most significant measures of how improvements to procedures and practices affect infection rates is CAUTI rates. Facilities are given tools and resources to improve outcomes through evidence-based clinical practices and initiatives to strengthen infection prevention abilities and use—and care for catheters in the LTC setting (Ginex,2018). When creating individualized resident care plans and behavior interventions, it's crucial to consider other options if there isn't a clinical need for an indwelling urinary catheter and a resident, family member, or frontline staff member requests one be installed. The expertise of nurses in the care of indwelling urinary catheters and CAUTI preventive techniques is suboptimal (Ferguson. 2018) The approach procedure may lower the incidence of CAUTI, and - assuming there is consistent EMR documentation - EMR extracts may constitute an effective and efficient method for monitoring evidence while disseminating the strategy (Lilley et al., 2022) The rate of CAUTI was decreased with the use of a comprehensive intervention for nurses and clinical officer interns that comprised a lecture series, educational videos, reminder signs, and weekly infection prevention rounds., According to Simoneaux et al., 2022, Hand hygiene is the best method to prevent infection. The facility describes how developing and adopting a culture change can increase hand hygiene compliance and improve patient safety while decreasing the CAUTI rate. CAUTI is a prolonged problem for the stakeholders because the condition will cost both time and financial resources to the patient and the stakeholders involved in nursing, unlike other medical conditions. Reference Ferguson, A. (2018). Implementing a CAUTI Prevention Program in an Acute Care Hospital Setting. Urologic Nursing, 38(6), 273–302. https://doi.org/10.7257/1053-816X Ginex, P. K., & Moriarty, K. (2018). How One Institution Used Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce CAUTIs. ONS Voice, 33(6), 27. Lilley, T., Teixeira-Poit, S., Wenner, J., Pruitt, J., & Jenkins, M. (2022). Reducing CAUTI in Patients with Acute Urinary Retention in the Critical Care Setting: A Pilot Study with Electronic Medical Record Analytics. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2022.06.005 Simoneaux, C., & Guerra, P. (2022). Implementation of Evidence-based Maintenance Bundles to Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) and Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Rates. American Journal of Infection Control, 50(7), S34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2022.03.057 2ND POST The critical question that I feel is most important for the mental health population revolves around medication adherence and it’s impact on the mentally ill and hospital system. I would first ask, the stakeholders if they felt that medication compliance is an issue and, if so, my critical question would be: What can be done to encourage medication adherence for patients with psychiatric illnesses to support stabilization and also benefit the hospital system? This practice issue has been an ongoing battle for as long as I have been in practice and it’s safe to assume before then too. The following information will discuss studies that will help to support the claim that my critical question asks and addressing this practice issue with primary stakeholders. A study completed in 2020 was able to demonstrate that medicare patients with psychiatric illnesses showed a direct correlation with increased hospitalizations and ED visits when noncompliance was present, this included medical and psychiatric medication noncompliance (Surbhi et al., 2020). It was shown that noncompliance with chronic disease medications is a major barrier to patients reaching treatment goals (Surbhi et al., 2020). The data collected showed that his particular population were known as “medicare super-utilizers” (Surbhi et al., 2020) and they represent approximately only 3% to 5% of the United States population but they account for 30% to 50% of total spending in hospitalizations and ED visits (Surbhi et al., 2020). The study concluded that there is a direct need to improve medication compliance and address mental health needs within this patient population (Surbhi et al., 2020). Another study completed in 2021 discussed how medication noncompliance continues to be a challenge in Mental Healthcare Users (MHCUs) and the important role that nurses have in promoting better compliance (Kalimashe & Plessis, 2021). The study reflected a positive correlation between patients’ that reported medication noncompliance and that because of nurses they were more willing to take their medications (Kalimashe & Plessis, 2021). This was obtained by nurses providing education about their illnesses and medications, good listening skills and they reported feeling like they were treated as people and not as an illness (Kalimashe & Plessis, 2021). Based on the research provided, addressing medication compliance not only benefits our mental health population, but it also helps the community, it helps to address stigma and encourages education, all while promoting cost savings for the hospital system. I believe that providing the opportunity for stability helps the community because in turn it may help to decrease substance use, it promotes acceptance by the community when it can be seen that mental illness is not something to fear and that it is something that can be treated. It also shows the community that providers and the hospital system stand behind and support the treatment and stabilization of mental illness. Reference Kalimashe, L., & du Plessis, E. (2021). Mental healthcare users’ self-reported medication adherence and their perception of the nursing presence of registered nurses in primary healthcare. Health SA Gesondheid, 26, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.4102/hsag.v26i0.1618. Surbhi, S., Graetz, I., Jim Y. Wan, Gatwood, J., & Bailey, J. E. (2020). Medication nonadherence, mental health, opioid sse, and inpatient and emergency department use in super-utilizers. American Journal of Managed Care, 26(3), e98–e103. https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc. 2020.42642. File Sem2 wk 7 initial post.docx (6.068 KB)