Best Practices to Avoid CAUTI

The Joint Commission has added one new National Patient Safety Goal for 2012. They want hospitals to decrease the percentage of catheter associated urinary tract infections. (CAUTI).

This has become an important issue in health care since 2008  when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) refused to financially reimburse hospitals for the care of patients who develop a CAUTI while hospitalized. CAUTIs are the most common hospital acquired infection (HAI).

What are Best Practices for Patients with an Indwelling Urinary Catheter?

1. Policy and Protocol

• hospital should have written guidelines in place on the use, insertion and maintenance of catheters

2. Make it Sterile

• as always we need to insert using sterile technique

3. Do They Need It?

• 1 in 4 hospitalized patients receive a catheter and 50% of them are unnecessarily placed.

4. Get It Out ASAP

• a dramatic decrease (52%) in infection rates has been demonstrated when catheters are removed within 48 hours of insertion

What kinds of protocols are in place where you work? Is your organization following best practices?

To know more about this topic go to http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587464_4

If you are interested in other National Patient Safety goals visit

http://www.jointcommission.org/standards_information/npsgs.aspx