Thursday, August 27, 2009
Fighting Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections with a Better Designed Foley Tray
Filed under: Critical Care
, Medicine
, Surgery
, Urology
Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) account for up to 40% of hospital-acquired infections. Patients who get urinary tract infections during their hospitalization often find themselves staying for longer periods of time than necessary at a high cost to the hospital, especially given that Medicare and Medicaid often don't provide additional reimbursement for CAUTI.
Reducing these infections generally involves making sure the catheter was needed in the first place, ensuring that good sterile technique is used during placement, keeping the duration of catheterization as short as possible, and keeping the catheter properly secured to the patient's leg. In an effort to reduce CAUTI, Medline Industries, developed a new Foley catheter tray that attempts to be more intuitive, better designed, and with more directions than current trays. It's only one level deep, has clear labeling guiding the practitioner step by step, and contains clearer instructions for insertion of the catheter.
It would be nice to see some data on whether the new tray's design actually promotes better aseptic technique, but for those who've used a Foley tray before and experienced the often unwieldy and unorganized contents, any step toward a better design seems to be a good one.
From the press release:
"Even though clinicians do their best to practice good aseptic techniques, infections happen due to poor technique or because the catheter is left in too long," said Alecia Cooper, RN, MBA, CNOR, Sr. Vice President, Clinical Services for Medline.In reengineering the Foley catheter tray, Medline focused on incorporating tools and tips for improving the insertion process to help minimize CAUTI risk. For example, the tray features an innovative one-layer design that guides the clinician through the process of placing the catheter while ensuring aseptic technique. (Typical catheter trays consist of two layers, requiring additional room to perform the procedure, increasing the risk of breaking the sterile field.) Visual reminders and cues are strategically placed to guide the clinician through the correct procedure.
"The new tray design, instructions, arrangement, and labeled components are designed to help make it hard for the worker to do the wrong thing," said Sue MacInnes, Chief Marketing Officer for Medline.
Product page: CAUTI Erase Tray...
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examples: <b>Bold</b> <i>Italic</i>
