Quality Improvement (QI) Plan: Plan-Do-Study-Act
Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI)
Quality Improvement Problem
The selected problem is CAUTI is an infection of the urinary tract which occurs due to irregular cleaning and contamination.
Data to support QI Problem:
Government spends $340 million to treat CAUTI annually. There are 449,334 CAUTI infections annually (Wanat et al. 2020). 17 to 69 percent of the infections are treatable. It causes 9000 preventable deaths annually (Mangal et al., 2021).
Analysis of the Evidence to Support QI Problem:
Letica-Kriegel et al. (2019) indicate CAUTI is on the rise due to poor catheter use. Wanat et al. (2020) shows that nurses can take actions to prevent it. Mangal et al. (2021) indicates patient education is essential for prevention and treatment.
QI Plan:
Plan-Do-Study-Act involves developing the action plan, implementing it, analyzing outcomes, and adjusting the steps to achieve quality outcomes.
Wanat et al. (2020) shows that the model encourages continuous improvement essential in the healthcare environment. Continuous improvement prevents reoccurrence of medical errors.
Resources to Support the QI Plan:
Nurses, physicians, and nurse managers
Local pharmacists and volunteers.
Diagnostic tools and education manuals
Letica-Kriegel, A. S., Salmasian, H., Vawdrey, D. K., Youngerman, B. E., Green, R. A., Furuya, E. Y., … & Perotte, R. (2019). Identifying the risk factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infections: a large cross-sectional study of six hospitals. BMJ Open, 9(2), e022137.
Mangal, S., Carter, E., & Arcia, A. (2021). Developing an educational resource for parents on pediatric catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.09.006
Wanat, M., Borek, A. J., Atkins, L., Sallis, A., Ashiru-Oredope, D., Beech, E., … & Tonkin-Crine, S. (2020). Optimising interventions for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (Cauti) in primary, secondary and care home settings. Antibiotics, 9(7), 419.
