Fri, Mar 2, 2018 at 02:05 PM

Full year without catheter-associated UTIs is cause for celebration at Marshall Medical

Both hospitals reach important milestones in reducing risk of urinary tract infections.

Marshall Medical Centers implemented nationally recognized best clinical practices to decrease the risk of patients developing a urinary tract infection when a Foley catheter is necessary. Called Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI), the best way to prevent this type of urinary tract infection is to remove the catheter as soon as it is no longer necessary.

Both Marshall North and South are participating in the Nurse Driven Foley Removal Protocol and working towards zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Marshall North marked 465 days with no CAUTIs, and Marshall South reached 144 days without a CAUTI.

To celebrate the milestone and to congratulate nurses for their hard work, Marshall Medical’s Infection Prevention Nurse served cupcakes and drinks.  

The best practice protocol implemented last year involves nurses evaluating on every shift whether to continue the catheter. Once it is determined to no longer be necessary, nurses are allowed to remove it. 

As a result, Marshall North saw ZERO catheter-associated urinary tract infections during all of 17 – and has gone 465 days since the last CAUTI, while Marshall South has gone 144 days. At Marshall North, the effort has decreased total catheter usage days by 670 over the previous year, decreasing the risk of contracting a urinary tract infection. Every day that a catheter is in place, the risk of developing a urinary tract infection increases by five percent.

A Foley catheter (named for Frederic Foley, who produced the original design in 1929) is a flexible tube which a clinician passes through the urethra and into the bladder to drain urine. It is the most common type of indwelling urinary catheter.