What if… we could stamp out 40% of all hospital infections? Urinary

catheters are a major cause. They are sterile but insertion technique,

handling and the time they are insitu can cause infection.

National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

CATHETER

ACQUIRED Catheter Apathy is a practice relic which

has to go if we are to optimize our patient care. A foley catheter is a major invasive

device that must be respected if not feared.

Urinary Tract Infection

Surgical services is working to eliminate “Catheter Apathy” when caring for patients

with Foleys.

Another day,

another foley…

Relax, this is just a short educational show so that you transport patients knowing that they are not being put at

great risk for urinary tract infection.

A urinary tract infection quite often translates into a 1-3.8 day length of stay increase.

A Foley catheter is a sterile (germ-free) tube that is inserted through the urethra and into the bladder to drain urine. The catheter has a small balloon filled with solution that holds the catheter inside the bladder.

All points of contact for a Foley catheter once in the urethra are unfortunately parts of the urinary mucosa which is a lining of special mucous cells creating an optimum environment in which bacteria thrive. The mucosa is thin and highly vascular which makes it vulnerable to breakdown and inflammation.

As a health care worker assisting patients who sometimes have a catheter, there are things you need to know.

Considering the vulnerability of the catheterized patient to bacteria and other pathogens. What do you think is the single most important thing to do when working with a patient?

Urinary Catheter

Creating a doorway for infection

If you thought “hand hygiene” you would be right.

Be careful not to exert a pulling force on the tubing. That is why it is best to secure the tubing with tape on the thigh.

Ouch!!! My mucosa

Hmmm…what else should you be careful with?

All patients MUST have this tape on the thigh to reduce mucosal trauma and therefore UTIs.

What is this tube

anyways?

Do not put the catheter bag on the floor and do not have the bag touch the floor when hanging. Who knows what has been on the floor. It is reasonable to assert stool or urine have been exactly there at one time in the past and that there are bacteria present in the present.

Heavens to goodness!!!

Guess why it is not a good idea to have the catheter bag above the bladder?

You are potentially pouring

urine and bacteria straight

back into the bladder.

Keep the bag below the bladder at all times.

A chronically overfilled bag creates a party environment for bacteria.

Kinks and twists in the tubing can mean a blockage in the system. Both

scenarios can bring about a bacterial population explosion. Both

scenarios increase the chances for infection.

Bacterial Population Explosion

That wasn’t too bad was it? All you have to do is fill out the test and send it back to the manager.