Urinary tract infections account for 30 percent of reported hospital-acquired infections in an acute care setting. Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) are connected with increased morbidity, mortality, hospital cost and length of stay.
Thankfully, we can reduce or prevent these problems, thanks to recent work by the CAUTI Education Committee, including John Hannig, MD, Nicole Van Der Heyden, MD, and Andrew Furman, MD.
These four elements make up the CAUTI Bundle:
Licensed Independent Practitioners (LIPs) play an important role by limiting the use of an indwelling catheter to what is absolutely necessary. Frequently re-assessing the need for continued use of the catheter may also decrease UTIs.
Examples of appropriate indwelling catheter use include the following:
If a UTI is suspected, please document the condition as a UTI, not a CAUTI, until it has been confirmed. Consider discontinuing the current indwelling catheter and ordering a UA with C&S. A new indwelling catheter should be order only if required for the current medical condition.