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CAUTI Prevention Project Proposal
Bini Ebi
College of nursing and health profession, Grand Canyon University
NUR-590 Evidence based practice project
Dr David Lyons
February 08 ,2023 2
CAUTI Prevention Project Proposal
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is a significant healthcare issue in
most facilities. It is among the most recurrent device-related infections, primarily acquired in hospitals amenable to prevention among patients (Atkins et al., 2020; Whitaker et al., 2022). CAUTI has increased preventable mortality and morbidity rates in the US as it accounts for millions of secondary bloodstream infections. In extreme cases, CAUTI affects other vital organs, including the patients’ kidneys, prostate, bladder, and urethra (Kolstad, 2020). Such incidents lead to significant health-related complications for patients and healthcare facilities.
These include high healthcare costs, increased risk of hospitalization, significant patient discomfort, and increased hospital stays. This study discusses how CAUTI has affected the US healthcare system and the possible interventions for its prevention and alleviation. The study is based on the formulated PICOT question.
PICOT Question
In an acute care unit inpatient with indwelling urinary catheters (P), how does using multi-
modal evidence-based practices (I),compared with the current indwelling catheter care (C),
impact the prevention rate of CAUTIs (O) within six months? (T).
Problem Statement
The research analyzes the growing problem of CAUTIs among inpatients in Acute Care Units in the US today. CAUTIs are a growing healthcare problem, leading to major patient and facility complications. CAUTIs are majorly caused by bacteria entering the urinary tract when a urinary catheter is placed or used on a patient (Whitaker et al., 2022). The bacteria causing CAUTIs dwell in the intestines, although they do not affect the intestines. Most patients with CAUTIs experience various symptoms, such as fever or chills and a burning feeling in the genital area or urethra. Additional symptoms include a burning 3
sensation, pain, or pressure in the abdomen, cloudy or bloody urine in the collecting bag (red
or pink colors), backaches, confusion, vomiting, and sleepiness (Whitaker et al., 2022).
There are higher mortality and morbidity rates due to CAUTIs, extended hospital stays, increased healthcare costs, and increased patient readmissions (Whitaker et al., 2022). The research will define how CAUTIs affect different populations and the essential need for prevention using translational and traditional research articles. Consequently, the problem chosen for CAUTI prevention is amenable to a research-based intervention using the PICOT format as the various elements are elaborated. For instance, a specific population is identified,
and the intervention chosen has a comparative intervention to determine which works out the best within a specified period. This determines if the intervention can be generalized and used
in larger populations in improved care of acute care inpatients after surgery.
Organizational Culture and Readiness
Most health organizations have and are adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) to ensure improved patient care outcomes which are individual-centered and quality. These institutions must identify facilitators and barriers that might affect EBP implementation to ensure effective EBP adaptation (Randall et al., 2019). Organizational culture regulates how the various processes and systems operate while influencing how the workforce behaves toward attaining various goals and objectives. Thus, organizational culture and readiness determine long-term performance. Besides, change agents must assess the readiness of the organization to accept change before implementing it using various change tools. This study’s purpose includes assessing and describing a health organization’s readiness to implement CAUTI preventive measures among acute care inpatients.
Organizational Culture
The organization’s current cultural system is value-based. Its operations are patient- focused, culturally centered, collaborative, teamwork, and stewardship core values. All these 4
cultural factors augment EBP implementation as there is effective communication, leadership,
and coordination among the workforces. Hence, this supports the change leading to organizational growth and staff welfare enhancement (Runtu et al., 2019). Currently, the facility has embraced a transformational leadership structure. This is significant in empowering the workforce to implement CAUTI preventive measures effectively. This leadership type welcomes change in the facility while ensuring the staff is inspired to perform
to attain the organizational mission.
Moreover, the facility has embraced interprofessional collaboration, which is crucial in change implementation (Willgerodt et al., 2020). This enhances team engagement whereby
the employees work together by sharing CAUTI prevention and reduction ideas. Besides, this
is attainable through effective communication across the facility using information technologies (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt (2022). Previous change implementation success and performance prospects depict that the employees are receptive and have the right mindset
to implement change initiatives that improve patient care outcomes. However, more research is required to define how stakeholder inclusion is essential in ascertaining change readiness in
the facility.
Organizational Readiness Tool
The Partnership Assessment Tool got Health (PATH) is an essential organizational readiness tool chosen. It analyzes the nature of organizational and stakeholder partnerships in change implementation initiatives (Larson et al., 2022). PATH uses its four components: internal and external relationships, workflow and service delivery, data outcomes, and funding and finance. These measures indicated positive feedback from three components with
a need to develop the funding and finance aspects. The survey results indicate that the facility
is well-prepared to adapt multi-modal EBPs to reduce CAUTIs among acute care inpatients.
