|  | Conditions Treatments | Infectious Diseases

Urinary Catheter Infection Prevention

Developing a strategy to avoid infection caused by a urinary catheter is critical to good health outcomes for catheterized patients. Of the 600,000 hospital patients affected annually by urinary tract infections, a majority---between 66% and 86%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention---develop the infections from their urinary catheters. Correct procedure to insert the catheter, appropriate care of the catheter while it is in place, and appropriate education of the patient and caregiver are the main issues to consider when preventing a catheter-associated infection.

  1. Hygiene

    • Improper adherence to hand hygiene and failure to use a clean insertion procedure are the two biggest culprits in urinary catheter infections. Health care professionals should always observe proper technique to maintain a clean environment for insertion. Patients should question their health care providers if they feel their doctors or nurses have not cleaned their hands or have compromised the sterile field before inserting a catheter.

    Catheter care

    • Hand hygiene is also an important part of catheter care to prevent infection. Handling the catheter tubes or bag with clean hands will substantially decrease a patient's risk for developing infection. Health care professionals, patients and caregivers should also ensure that the catheter bag is always lower than the actual catheter to prevent urine from spilling back into the bladder. Minimizing contact with the catheter tubes---pulling, yanking, twisting or adjusting---will also help reduce risk of infection.

    Education

    • A final consideration in preventing urinary catheter infections is appropriate education of health care professionals, patients and caregivers. Training health care staff in correct procedure---and retraining if necessary---should be a priority. Making sure patients and family members understand how to handle the catheter bag and how to reduce risk of infection is also important. Keeping vigilant about clean hands and a clean environment is critical.

Infectious Diseases - Related Articles