• Anna F Tyson, Eileen F Campbell, Lacey R Spangler, Samuel W Ross, Caroline E Reinke, Catherine L Passaretti, and Ronald F Sing.
• Department of General Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA.
• J Intensive Care Med. 2020 Aug 1; 35 (8): 738-744.

IntroductionEarly removal of urinary catheters is an effective strategy for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention. We hypothesized that a nurse-directed catheter removal protocol would result in decreased catheter utilization and CAUTI rates in a surgical trauma intensive care unit (STICU).MethodsWe performed a retrospective, cohort study following implementation of a multimodal CAUTI prevention bundle in the STICU of a large tertiary care center. Data from a 19-month historical control were compared to data from a 15-month intervention period. Pre- and postintervention indwelling catheter utilization and CAUTI rates were compared.ResultsCatheter utilization decreased significantly with implementation of the nurse-driven protocol from 0.78 in the preintervention period to 0.70 in the postintervention period (P < .05). As a result of the bundle, the CAUTI rate declined significantly, from 5.1 to 2.0 infections per 1000 catheter-days in the pre- vs postimplementation period (Incident Rate Ratio [IRR]: 0.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.65).ConclusionsImplementation of a nurse-driven protocol for early urinary catheter removal as part of a multimodal CAUTI intervention strategy can result in measurable decreases in both catheter utilization and CAUTI rates.

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