Here are 10 articles from Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality on catheters and catheter-associated urinary tract infections that caught the attention of readers in 2015.
1. Which states performed the worst on CAUTI reduction?
From 2009 to 2013, the nation saw a 6 percent increase in CAUTIs, according to the CDC, and some states saw less improvement than others in this area.
2. Patient safety tool: AHRQ's guide to reduce CAUTIs
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a new CAUTI prevention toolkit that was developed based on the experiences of more than 1,200 hospitals across the nation that successfully reduced these infections.
3. Patient safety tool: Guide for catheter appropriateness
The University of Michigan Health System published the "Ann Arbor Criteria for Urinary Catheter Appropriateness" in the Annals of Internal Medicine, providing detailed advice for clinicians on if a patient would benefit from a catheter.
4. Study highlights CAUTI risk factors, including catheter insertion location
There are many risk factors for CAUTIs, including the ward in which the catheter insertion takes place, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
5. 10 things for CFOs to know about CAUTIs
This story highlights 10 things hospital CFOs should know about CAUTIs, one of the most common healthcare-associated infections in the U.S.
6. 51 statistics on state CAUTI rates
The list includes hospitals' standardized infection ratios — observed to expected infection rates — for CAUTIs for all 50 states and Washington D.C.
7. Patient safety tool: ANA's CAUTI prevention tool
The American Nurses Association provided a tool for nurses to help prevent CAUTIs. It includes a flow chart to aid in the decision to insert a catheter or not, as well as a checklist of tasks to complete before, during and after inserting an indwelling urinary catheter.
8. Standard use catheter may be linked to CAUTIs: 6 things to know
CAUTIs are the most common HAI, and the results of a national survey suggest the commonly used Foley catheter may be to blame.
9. Are CAUTI rates up or down? CDC, AHRQ data disagree, study finds
The CDC and the AHRQ use two different measurement systems to track the U.S. healthcare system's rates of CAUTIs which produce two different sets of results, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
10. University of Missouri Health Care uses EHRs to reduce CAUTIs
A nurse at the University of Missouri Health System led an initiative to use EHRs to reduce the number of CAUTIs in its facilities.