Nurses' and Physicians' Perceptions of Indwelling Urinary Catheter Practices and Culture in Their Institutions.

OBJECTIVES Indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs) are commonly used devices in acute care that may lead to catheter-associated urinary tract infections or noninfectious complications. Responsibilities for IUC are usually shared between nurses and physicians, and a common mental model among the two professional groups is thus essential for a successful reduction in catheter use. The aim of this study was to determine variation in the perceptions of current practices and culture regarding IUC use between these two groups. METHODS Nurses and physicians (N = 1579) from seven Swiss hospitals completed a written survey on safe IUC use in their institution. The survey assessed participant's perceptions of current practices and culture in their institution, and their perceived responsibilities related to IUC care. t tests and logistic regression were used to examine differences in responses between physicians and nurses. RESULTS Nurses and physicians each have their own tasks but also share responsibilities for catheter placement, care, and removal. Overall, nurses were more positive than physicians about current practices and culture regarding IUC use within their institution (mean scale scores = 5.4 for nurses versus 5.1 for physicians, P < 0.001). Perceptions of the two professional groups diverged most strongly on practices to avoid unnecessary placement of IUCs, the presence of shared values and attitudes in support of restrictive catheter use, and the other group's leadership commitment. CONCLUSIONS Indwelling urinary catheter management is a strong interprofessional domain and a shared responsibility. It is crucial that measures to raise awareness and to communicate new standards target both nurses and physicians and are discussed in interprofessional formats.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal

Change in staff perspectives on indwelling urinary catheter use after implementation of an intervention bundle in seven Swiss acute care hospitals: results of a before/after survey study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate changes in staff perspectives towards indwelling urinary catheter (IUC) use after implementation of a 1-year quality improvement project. DESIGN Repeated cross-sectional survey at baseline (October 2016) and 12-month follow-up (October 2017). SETTING Seven acute care hospitals in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS The survey was targeted at all nursing and medical staff members working at the participating hospitals at the time of survey distribution. A total of 1579 staff members participated in the baseline survey (T0) (49% response rate) and 1527 participated in the follow-up survey (T1) (47% response rate). INTERVENTION A multimodal intervention bundle, consisting of an evidence-based indication list, daily re-evaluation of ongoing catheter need and staff training, was implemented over the course of 9 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Staff knowledge (15 items), perception of current practices and culture (scale 1-7), self-reported responsibilities (multiple-response question) and determinants of behaviour (scale 1-7) before and after implementation of the intervention bundle. RESULTS The mean number of correctly answered knowledge questions increased significantly between the two survey periods (T0: 10.4, T1: 11.0; p<0.001). Self-reported responsibilities with regard to IUC management by nurses and physicians changed only slightly over time. Perception of current practices and culture in regard to safe urinary catheter use increased significantly (T0: 5.3, T1: 5.5; p<0.001). Significant changes were also observed for determinants of behaviour (T0: 5.3, T1: 5.6; p<0.001). CONCLUSION We found small but significant changes in staff perceptions after implementation of an evidence-based intervention bundle. Efforts now need to be targeted at sustaining and reinforcing these changes, so that restrictive use of IUCs becomes an integral part of the hospital culture