Use of Silver-Coated Catheter
Use of Silver-Coated Catheter to Reduce Urinary Tract Infection
Introduction:
The use of catheters is a crucial aspect of care giving in hospitals especially when the patient is undergoing surgery in the areas surrounding the bladder, is unable to empty the bladder when they need to, or urinary incontinence. Patients who undergo long term cauterization have a high likelihood of developing bacteriuria – more than 90%. Indeed, catheter – induced infections are the most common hospital acquired infections worldwide(Hooton, 2010). However, Studies have shown that the incidence of these infections can be reduced significantly by using different catheter types, other than the conventional latex catheter (Nacey, 1985). This study seeks to study the significance of using silicone over latex catheters in patients over the age of 65 for an extended period of time (more than 6 months), in terms of catheter – associated urinary tract infections – CAUTI (O).
Clinical Question
The Clinical question proposed will be as follows: “will patients over the age of 65years (P) that use silicon coated indwelling catheters (I) compared to the traditional, non- coated style of indwelling catheter (C) have fewer numbers of Catheter Associated-Urinary Tract Infection (O) over a period of six months (T)?
Nursing Intervention
The aim of this intervention is to reduce the incidence of CAUTIs in patients with indwelling catheters. This will involve not only silicone catheters being preferred to latex catheters, but will also include important issues such as:
– Medical personnel doing catheterization should be properly trained on how to properly carry out the catheterization – The importance of preventing entry of bacteria and other microbes during introduction of the catheter should also be strictly adhered to, – Curbing unnecessary usage of catheters, and discontinuing use as soon as they are not needed. (Hooton, 2010)The aim of this intervention is to use silicone catheters, together with the cooperation of medical personnel involved in catheterization in reducing UTIs in elderly patients.
Details of Study
The study will be done with a randomly selected control group in a hospital. The criteria for selection will be the duration for catheterization (must be longer than 6 months), Age of patients (must be 65 and above), and gender (the study plans to only include male patients in the study for uniformity purposes. The study will be experimental, since it will allow for the random selection of participants, and their placing in control groups, unlike quasi experimental setup, where it may not be possible to manipulate all the key elements in the study.
This study draws from Roy’s Adaptation Model, RAM. This theory involves ensuring that the nursing care and adaptive capacity of the health environment that a patient is in is conducive enough to ensure his wellbeing and recovery. In this particular case, nursing interventions should be aimed at adapting the general practice of using latex catheters on elderly patients, which in many cases causes UTIs, discomfort and in other cases intolerance, to silicone ones which help minimize or eliminate the problems cited above.
By assessing the needs of these patients, and the hospital/ care giving institution’s capability and willingness to change, a nursing professional can then adapt a patient’s care structure to adapt to these while using the findings and recommendations of this study. (Alligood, 2014)
References
Alligood, M. R. (2014). Nursing Theorists and Their Work. St Louis: Elsevier Mosby.
Hooton, T. M. (2010). Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of CAUTIs in Adults. IDSA, 625-663.
Nacey, J. N. (1985). Catheter Induced Urethritis – A comparison betwrrn Latex and Silicone Catheters in a Prospective Clinical Trial. British Journal of Urology, 325 – 328.
