The Evidence-Based Practice
The evidence-based practice adopted in my organization recently is using reminders to alert nurses about checking and changing urinary catheters among patients. The intervention also included the provision of provider education on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) to address the high prevalence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). The intervention was selected after the nursing department identified a high prevalence of CAUTIs among patients placed with urinary catheters during hospitalization. The Nurse Managers selected a group of nurses to address the issue by researching it and identifying interventions backed by research on their effectiveness in mitigating the problem.
The Basis of the Decision
The reason for the adoption of the intervention is based on the high occurrence of CAUTIs among patients that compromise the quality of care and patient safety. Quality care and patient safety are top priorities in nursing practice, and every nurse is encouraged to ensure the achievement of these goals (Vaismoradi et al., 2020). The frequent occurrence of CAUTIs in healthcare settings affects the ability of nurses to achieve the two goals and also leads to low care satisfaction among patients (Ladhani et al., 2020). The problem also affects the performance of nurses based on the organization’s evaluation method that measures nursing outcomes based on patient outcomes and other metrics that emerge directly from the practice. The decision to adopt interventions was also supported by studies that have been conducted on the same problem.
Hospital-acquired infections are diseases that patients develop when they are in healthcare settings. Medical organizations have a high prevalence of infections because of the concentration of ill individuals in one place. The environment increases the risk of patients acquiring infections during hospitalization, given that most patients who go to hospitals are usually sick because of compromised immune systems. Patients develop diseases acquired in healthcare organizations because of ineffective mitigation measures by healthcare providers. CAUTIs are among the most prevalent hospital-acquired infections because of the frequent use of catheters during hospitalization. The use of urinary catheters is attributed to causing approximately one million cases of CAUTIs in America (Werneburg, 2022). The impacts of CAUTIs are significant to patients with prolonged hospitalization, increased medical costs, morbidity, and mortality. Therefore, the prevalence of CAUTIs in clinical settings is a problem that needs to be addressed by nurses.
The Facilitators
The selected interventions were facilitated by the nurse manager and nurses who saw the need to adopt interventions that can help reduce infections and promote patient outcomes. The nurse manager is responsible for the needs and performance of nurses in the organization (Nurmeksela et al., 2021). The manager achieves this by adopting effective interventions for emerging problems and continued assessment of nurses’ issues and solutions. The nurse manager has the support of the hospital’s management which facilitated the research efforts and approved the proposed intervention. The organization’s executive relies on managers at different levels to ensure that their departments work optimally. Adopting proposed interventions has become a managerial culture as leaders emphasize positive care outcomes at every level of care.
Barriers
Barriers are common when adopting any intervention in an organization and the adopted solutions in our organizations faced some challenges before and during their implementation. The first barrier was resistance from some nurses who did not see the need to adopt these interventions. Opposition to change is common in organizations due to the lack of knowledge on the issue being addressed and the effectiveness of the intervention (Rehman et al., 2021). A section of the nurses resisted the change, indicating that it was common for patients to acquire infections in hospitals and that the interventions could not be proven effective. The nurse manager took on the responsibility of educating the nurses on the prevalence of CAUTIs, their impacts on patient care, and the role of the interventions. The second barrier that was experienced was the mobilization of resources to support implementation. The intervention required the organization to acquire the help of an IT expert to establish the reminder system. Getting the relevant resources was challenging because they had not been budgeted. The executive helped to mobilize funds to support the hiring of the expert and the adoption of the intervention.
Reflection
Evidence-based interventions are crucial in healthcare organizations because of the evolving nature of issues that are experienced. Nurses in my healthcare organization have experienced several problems that have required evidence-based solutions. The interventions have been based on research and data by researchers who have studied the same issues. Solving the issue may take some time, but the significance of evidence-based interventions continues to be proven in the hospital. The adoption of the interventions revealed that the common barriers that emerge in organizations could easily be addressed by educating stakeholders on the importance of the existing problem and the role of the intervention in addressing it. The implemented interventions have the potential to address the high prevalence of CAUTIs and improve patient outcomes with continued support from relevant stakeholders.
References
Ladhani, H. A., Tseng, E. S., Claridge, J. A., Towe, C. W., & Ho, V. P. (2020). Catheter-associated urinary tract infections among trauma patients: poor quality of care or marker of effective rescue? Surgical Infections, 21(9), 752–759. Web.
Nurmeksela, A., Mikkonen, S., Kinnunen, J. & Kvist, T. (2021). Relationships between nurse managers’ work activities, nurses’ job satisfaction, patient satisfaction, and medication errors at the unit level: a correlational study. BMC Health Services Research, 21(296). Web.
Rehman, N., Mahmood, A., Ibtasam, M., Murtaza, S. A., Iqbal, N., & Molnár, E. (2021). The psychology of resistance to change: the antidotal effect of organizational justice, support, and leader-member exchange. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 678952. Web.
Vaismoradi, M., Tella, S., A Logan, P., Khakurel, J., & Vizcaya-Moreno, F. (2020). Nurses’ adherence to patient safety principles: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 2028. Web.
Werneburg G. T. (2022). Catheter-associated urinary tract infections: current challenges and prospects. Research and Reports in Urology, 14, 109–133. Web.