Facility Description
My current place of work is a tertiary care academic medical facility with 500 beds and a strong reputation for research activities. The acute care facility has 1,200 registered nurses on staff and upholds the culture of developing novel medical and surgical procedures to serve patients better. Most of the team members who have been in the hospital since its establishment often rely on practice norms rather than the formalized guidelines that have recently been implemented. The healthcare organization continually revises its care approaches to adapt to new technologies, patient populations, disease patterns, treatment variations, progressive policies, and government initiatives.
Current Problem
Nurses should undergo retraining on routine screening to boost the likelihood of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) decreasing with the period of hospital stay. CAUTI is the most reported hospital-acquired infection, and its prevalence is increasing (Atkins et al., 2020). The poor screening of high-risk patients in clinical settings results in many items related to urinary catheters being missed or unreported, raising the risk of CAUTI. The key stakeholders are hospital administrators, caregivers, and patients. The risks associated with the change implementation are delays resulting from retraining nurses and dismantling the current process before replacing it with policies and procedures accompanied by routine screening.
Evidence-Based Proposal
Urinary catheters should be used sparingly and removed as soon as feasible. The American Nurses Association should create a rule-anchored evidence-based tool to evaluate if a urinary catheter is necessary after screening and assessments. The approach should also include a checklist for catheter insertion, instructions for care after removal, and options for maintenance and incontinence (Prihodova et al., 2019). Reducing the prevalence of CAUTIs requires improvements in three areas of evidence-based clinical care: avoiding unnecessary short-term catheter use, prompt replacement under the direction of a nurse, and adequate deliberation during placement. Regular screenings for urine retention and incontinence, as well as evidence-based care for these conditions, can prevent catheter usage.
Knowledge Transfer Plan
Planning, analyzing, designing, implementing, and maintaining effective knowledge transfer systems are essential. It is necessary to assemble a competent group capable of supporting and enforcing the transition during the routine screening stage to initiate change (Mitchell et al., 2021). Experienced, retrained, and self-driven nurses and their managers would make up this team, which would be tasked with spotting minor catheter issues as they arise, implementing necessary changes, and serving as a liaison between the medical staff and the patients. Organizations may improve their work practices, make more informed decisions, and shield themselves from criticism by investing in the creation of an effective knowledge system.
Results Dissemination
The greatest method of disseminating information would be to give a presentation to all hospital staff in large and small group settings. There is a need to share knowledge with all members at the unit level to fix the issue for good (Russell et al., 2019). Surgical wards can better serve their patients and their staff when presentations are tailored at the unit level, drawing on the latest research and providing educators with a solid foundation on which to build their lessons. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the involvement is strategic so that the intervention implemented is based on the findings. Presenting to small groups, like a team of nurses, is an effective strategy for capturing the members’ attention and delivering the intended message.
Measurable Outcomes
Reduced CAUTI among high-risk patients in medical wards is the measurable outcome expected from this change. Evidence translation enables re-calibration of patient safety and care responses, leading to better health outcomes for patients and caregivers (Singh et al., 2021). The hospital will track the effectiveness of preventive controls, like routine screening for CAUTI, by regularly collecting and analyzing data. If no reduction in the proportion of CAUTI is found in the first evaluation, extra training for groups and individuals, mandatory meetings to assist in identifying problems, and forums for asking questions should be implemented. This ongoing approach will ensure that the best evidence-based practice is consistently promoted.
Lessons Learned: Critical Appraisal
The exercise helped understand how to model a set of inquiries that would hone in on the distinct cluster of supporting data needed to prove a theory. There is a need to answer basic questions about the study’s category, topic, outcomes, statistical findings, and potential for bias. Using the PICO question format zeros down on the article’s primary concerns and has an advantage on the research. CINHAL and other similar databases assist guide peer-reviewed literature searches. Using Boolean operators like ‘AND,’ ‘NOT,’ and ‘OR’ to integrate the PICO elements boosts the search’s precision and sensitivity, yielding better results.
Lessons Learned
The exercise helped understand how to model a set of inquiries that would hone in on the distinct cluster of supporting data needed to prove a theory. There is a need to answer basic questions about the study’s category, topic, outcomes, statistical findings, and potential for bias. Using the PICO question format zeros down on the article’s primary concerns and has an advantage on the research. CINHAL and other similar databases assist guide peer-reviewed literature searches. Using Boolean operators like ‘AND,’ ‘NOT,’ and ‘OR’ to integrate the PICO elements boosts the search’s precision and sensitivity, yielding better results.
References
Atkins, L., Sallis, A., Chadborn, T., Shaw, K., Schneider, A., Hopkins, S., Bunten, A., Michie, S., & Lorencatto, F. (2020). Reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections: A systematic review of barriers and facilitators and strategic behavioral analysis of interventions. Implementation Science, 15(1), 44. Web.
Gauron, G., & Bigand, T. (2021). Implementation of evidence-based strategies to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections among hospitalized, post-surgical adults. American Journal of Infection Control, 49(6), 843-845. Web.
Mitchell, B., Curryer, C., Holliday, E., Rickard, C. M., & Fasugba, O. (2021). Effectiveness of meatal cleaning in the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections and bacteriuria: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal Open, 11(6), e046817. Web.
Prihodova, L., Guerin, S., Tunney, C., & Kernohan, W. G. (2019). Key components of knowledge transfer and exchange in health services research: Findings from a systematic scoping review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(2), 313-326. Web.
Russell, J. A., Leming-Lee, T. ‘Susie,’ & Watters, R. (2019). Implementation of a nurse-driven CAUTI prevention algorithm. Nursing Clinics of North America, 54(1), 81–96. Web.
Singh, S., Angus, L. D. G., Munnangi, S., Shaikh, D., Digiacomo, J. C., Angara, V. C., Brown, A., & Akadiri, T. (2021). Reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infection: The impact of routine screening in the geriatric hip fracture population. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 28(5), 290–297. Web.