A Unary Tract Infection (UTI) implies an inflammatory process in urinary tracts without including kidney parenchyma in the pathological process. UTI is widely spread among people of elderly age, both female and male, and they appear to be vulnerable to this disease due to a range of factors. They are anatomic and physiological changes in pelvic organs, incompetence of unary tract epithelial tissue, decrease in slime elaboration, urinary and fecal incontinence, and neurosis tarda. For this reason, this disease of significantly more frequently met in the geriatric population, compared to younger people.
This health problem is associated with significant disturbance for patients. They tend to perceiving a burning feeling while passing urine, and the color of urine is different from normal, becoming darker and bloody. In addition, patients may have an intense urge for passing urine despite the fact that a urinary bladder is not full. Other symptoms include pain in the back and abdominal and fever. Consequently, visiting a bathroom implies coping with significant challenges for people diagnosed with UTI.
Nursing Home in California is aimed to provide its residents with comprehensive care of high quality. In addition, the focus of the organization implies supplying elderly people with decent and comfortable living conditions, relieving their health problems, and preventing possible diseases. The residents require special attention, as their health state is fragile, and even a minor event may have a considerable influence on it. Therefore, Nursing Home intends to adhere to a comprehensive and careful approach while caring for its patients.
Problem Statement
Residents in Nursing Home have a variety of problems, beginning from asthma and finishing with brain activity problems. The latter appear to be especially dangerous for their health, as elderly people tend to forget about essential care for their health. Apart from resistance to treatment and forgetting to take medications at the correct time, it also regards hygiene breaches. In addition, the changes in organisms due to age make the geriatric population more vulnerable to developing UTI.
UTI prevents the patients from a decent lifestyle, as it is associated with numerous problems on a constant basis. Vising a bathroom becomes a challenge for elderly people, which does not allow them to live full-fledged lives. Furthermore, it may result in problems with having sleep at night, which also imply negative consequences for the residents’ health state. In general, urinary tracts are important for excreting process, and problems with them may result in a range of diseases. As for the Nursing Home staff, spreading UTI puts additional pressure on them, as patients require additional attention. Thus, the necessity to elaborate and implement sufficient measures, aimed to prevent and manage UTI in the geriatric population, is evident.
Literature Review
Recent research may contribute to providing essential information on UTI prevention and management. Sihra et al. (2018) have published a study, “Nonantibiotic Prevention and Management of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection”, which may be informative for elaborating UTI prevention and management strategy. The authors focus on nonantibiotic measures, which can be helpful for addressing this disease (Sihra et al., 2018).
They include “behavioral changes, dietary supplementation (such as Chinese herbal medicines and cranberry products), NSAIDs, probiotics, D-mannose, methenamine hippurate, estrogens, intravesical glycosaminoglycans, immunostimulants, vaccines and inoculation with less-pathogenic bacteria” (Sihra et al., 2018, para. 1). The study contains the evaluation of the trial results, which may be beneficial for implementing the effective measure for the Nursing Home in California.
It should be mentioned that the article contains some pieces of advice, which may not be suitable for elderly people, and for this reason, it is essential to cover only relevant ones. For instance, Sihra et al. (2018) propose dietary recommendations, which will probably help address this issue. Sihra et al. (2018) highlight studies, which discuss the benefit of adhering to adequate hydration and consuming vitamin C. Another approach implies phytotherapy, namely Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and eating cranberry-containing products. Furthermore, some researchers observed by Sihra et al. (2018) provide evidence for the beneficial role of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories in UTI prevention.
Consuming probiotics for achieving normal flora is also among the stratifies, which may be helpful for treating this disease. Other proposals include D-mannose, though its usefulness requires further research (Sihra et al., 2018). On the contrary, the positive result of applying methenamine hippurate has been proved in a great number of cases. In addition, the article includes suggestions on using estrogens and intravesical glycosaminoglycans.
The option of immunostimulants and vaccines is also discussed in the study. However, it is not possible to make a precise conclusion in this regard. The reasons for it are “a lack of induction of antibodies in the bladder, the diversity of pathogens and the desire to avoid inducing a pathological immune response to colonizing bacteria in the gut” (Sihra et al., 2018, para 32). Furthermore, a lack of protective immunity for this inflection limits the development of vaccines significantly.
After reviewing the study, it is possible to conclude that the measures covered in it appear to be promising. The majority of them have a sufficient number of proofs of their effectiveness in preventing or managing UTI. Consequently, Sihra et al. (2018) advise applying the mentioned measures in combination for providing positive outcomes. As this topic has not been researched comprehensively, the implemented measures should be evaluated in order to understand their impact.
Purpose
The purpose of the current proposal is to provide the Nursing Home with effective strategies for preventing and managing UTI in the residents, namely elderly people. For this reason, research has to be conducted, which implies the analysis of the efficiency of different approaches and medications. In addition, an implementation plan and evaluation criteria are also required to guaranteeing beneficial outcomes for the patients and their well-being.
Audience
The proposal is aimed to targeting Nursing Home staff, as this profession requires an in-depth understanding of both specific and widespread health problems among elderly people. Their responsibilities involve providing residents with all the possible measures for maintaining and improving their health state. Furthermore, health providers are considered to contribute to finding sufficient solutions for the diseases of the residents. For this reason, this proposal is highly likely to be useful for them, helping them to fulfill their working duties and providing competent care.
Methods and Materials
As it has been mentioned above, none of the methods provides 100 percent of effectiveness. However, the best outcomes may be achieved while using sufficient measures in combination. Considering the equipment and budget of the Nursing Home in California, there is a possibility to adhere to dietary recommendations. In addition, there will be no difficulties with implementing phytotherapy and adhering to probiotics. Apart from this, it is recommended to apply methenamine hippurate, as this approach has been proved by a range of researches. Therefore, a combination of these methods may be beneficial for preventing and managing UTI among residents of the Nursing Home.
Moreover, as this topic required further exploration, there is the necessity for analyzing the effect of implemented measures on a regular basis. This should cover all the residents of the Nursing Home, especially the ones, which have already been diagnosed with UTI. They should receive a regular examination of urinary tracts, and the results should be compared in order to trace the possible changes.
Furthermore, the participants should respond to a set of questions, aiming to give some insights, clarifying the impact of the provided care. In case a respondent mentions the negative consequences of applied measures, the effect on other residents should be check. Whether a sufficient number of patients within the Nursing Home prove the deterioration of their state or absence of changes, it is advisable to adhere to other methods. This way, it is possible to monitor the state of patients with UTI and indicate the impact of particular approaches for preventing and managing this disease.
Implementation Plan
First of all, before the start of implementing the measures mentioned in the previous section, it is vital to conduct a full examination of residents of the Nursing Home. The number of patients diagnosed with UTI and their health state should be registered. This will be helpful for monitoring the results of the applied measures and possible improvements or deterioration and supplementing recent researches on this topic.
Secondly, the dietary recommendations should be discussed with canteen managers and cooks. As the advice of eating habits is simple, it will not present a problem to implementing this method in the everyday menu. This measure will allow residents without UTI to prevent the development of this disease. Moreover, it will be useful for patients, who have already had problems with urinary tracts. Patients, who have been diagnosed with UTI should be warned of the necessity to adhere to a diet in order to provide better efficiency. Phytotherapy and probiotics should also be supplied for all the residents of the Nursing Home.
As for methenamine Hippurate, it is recommended to use it as a part of the treatment plan for patients with UTI. In combination with adherence to dietary recommendations and phytotherapy, it is highly likely to supply positive outcomes and contribute to relieving the problem. Apart from the discussed methods, it is essential to conduct an examination of urinary tracts on a regular basis in order to trace the changes. This way, the current implementation plan will imply effectiveness in preventing and managing UTI.
Evaluation
In order to prove the effectiveness of applied measures, it is vital to establish appropriate evaluation criteria for monitoring success. The results of examinations may be useful in this regard. As for the residents, who are not diagnosed with UTI, the positive outcome for them is total prevention of the disease development. In case of residents with UTI, the examinations should prove positive changes. In addition, patients should notice pain relief and the absence of some symptoms. These two signs may be illustrative of the success of implemented methods. In the long run, the absence of reoccurring cases may also indicate the positive dynamics and positive impact of the chosen measures.
References
Sihra, N., Goodman, A., Zakri, R., Sahai, A., & Malde, S. (2018). Nonantibiotic prevention and management of recurrent urinary tract infection. Nature Reviews Urology, 15, 750–776. Web.