Catheter balloons and catheter drainage bags: How-to posters

Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).¹ In the US, it’s estimated that more than 2.5 million unnecessary catheters are placed every year.² In fact, indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs) are unnecessary in 1 in 3 patients – and each day of catheter dwell time adds a 3-7% risk of infection.^3,4

The good news is that most CAUTIs can be prevented by following evidence-based guidelines—and training can make a big difference. That’s because even though the need to prevent CAUTIs is well understood, new practices and alternatives to indwelling urinary catheters may not be as clear. These educational posters are specially designed to help.

“The IUC or Foley catheter is a basic tool for nurses,” says Mary Pat Eble, MSN, RN, Medline Clinical Product Specialist-Urology. “We learn it once in school and never revisit it. But best practices have evolved, forcing us to question whether and when it’s OK to use an IUC. That’s why so much education is needed. Unless nurses learn the most current evidence-based approaches, they’ll continue with whatever they learned in nursing school, right or wrong.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider CAUTI a “never event,” meaning a CAUTI should never occur because it’s reasonably preventable when best practices are followed.

Says Eble, “The goal is zero harm, but it’s very difficult to get there. With so many variables including the differing acuities of patients, I like to use the term “targeting zero.” You get there by going back to basics, focusing on best practices and doing all you can do to support them.”

Eble previously helped nurses across the country revalidate their catheter insertion skills. She says, “It takes a while for clinicians to hard wire a new practice, to do it so many times it becomes second nature. Posters are extremely helpful in reinforcing best practices.”

Eble recommends choosing one CAUTI prevention best practice poster per month and highlighting it in different ways. Here are a few of her tips:

1. Decide what your monthly CAUTI “talk track” will be and use a poster to support it. It might be, “Do you really need an IUC?” or “Remember to get the Foley out – it shouldn’t be there if it’s not needed.”
2. Dedicate time in morning and evening safety huddles to highlight the details and steps on the poster. Five minutes two to three times per week is enough. These “shout outs” keep the material fresh with just enough repetition to be an effective reminder.
3. Display the featured poster in high traffic areas as a reinforcement – on a bulletin board, in the nurses’ restroom or in nursing stations. Rotate a new one in each month.
4. Stage an in-service product demo highlighting use of an IUC alternative like a bladder scanner, external catheter or an intermittent catheter tray.

This “decision tree” poster helps clinicians determine if a catheter is needed and when alternatives like an external catheter or bladder scanner are appropriate.

This catheter best practice poster illustrates the steps clinicians should take to safely manage the IUC’s balloon.

This catheter maintenance bundle poster helps clinicians take consistent steps to reduce CAUTI.