Translating Evidence into Practice
Problem Statement
Use of bladder bundle reduces catheter associated urinary infection rates because the bladder bundle assists nurses in necessary placement and timely removal of urinary catheter to reduce infection rates.
Of the hospital acquired infections reported, urinary tract infections (UTI) account for approximately 30%-40% of the hospitalized patients (Townsend & Anderson 2013). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015), 75% of those diagnosed with a UTI are associated with urinary catheters. Not only are catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) harmful to the patient they are also costly to the organization and affect hospital reimbursement. As a preventable complication, hospitals will no longer be reimbursed the cost resulting from a CAUTI (Townsend and & Anderson, 2013).
When a patient presents to the hospital emergency department they are often admitted to the hospital as an inpatient with physician orders for a urinary catheter to be placed and then being left in place upon admission unnecessarily. A large portion of patient safety includes education of nursing staff as well as the patient. This can be addressed through implementation of the bladder bundle initiative, brought about by The Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality. The focus of the bundle is to focus on CAUTI prevention in the use of urinary catheters by using continuous catheter assessment and prompt removal of the catheter as soon as it is no longer medically necessary (Translating Health Care–Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention Research into Practice via the Bladder Bundle, 2009).
The focus of this evidence-based practice project is to gather evidence supporting the use of a bladder bundle as it assists the decrease in catheter associated urinary infections in the hospital setting. Education on and implementation of the bladder bundle to front line staff, will lead to a decrease in catheter associated urinary infections. This will be demonstrated by use of the bladder bundle.
References
Healthcare-associated Infections. (2015, October 16).
Saint, S., Olmsted, R. N., Fakih, M. G., Kowalski, C. P., Watson, S. R., Sales, A. E., & Krein, S.
- (2009). Translating Health Care–Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention
Research into Practice via the Bladder Bundle. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and
Patient Safety / Joint Commission Resources, 35(9), 449–455.
Townsend, T., & Anderson, P. (2014, September 16). Don’t get ‘caught’ in the CAUTI trap.
