Team Learns "Bladder Bundle" to Protect Patient Safety

Urinary tract infections caused by catheters can lengthen hospital stays and complicate a patient’s recovery. Team members at Sunnyside Hospital reduced infections by creating a bundle of procedures. For each patient with a catheter in place, charge nurses used checklists to determine whether the catheter was medically necessary and properly secured. Registered nurses and certified nursing assistants were re-educated on catheter use and physicians were encouraged to refrain from administering catheters when they weren’t necessary. Within six months, the number of bladder infections caused by catheters dropped to near zero. 

Here's What Worked

• Using an evaluation checklist to determine whether the catheter is medically necessary and properly secured
• Re-educating registered nurses and certified nursing assistants on catheter use and how to minimize factors that cause bladder infections
• Encouraging physicians to refrain from administering a catheter when it wasn’t necessary and to take catheters out at the earliest opportunity

What can your team do to encourage each other to examine procedures and alter if necessary?