Effectiveness of nursing instructions on reducing urinary tract infections in critically ill patients

Abstract

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), resulting in significant morbidity among hospitalized patients. Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of applying nursing instructions (NI) on reducing UTIs in critically ill patients (CIPs). Sample: A purposive sample of 60 patients of both sexes connected with indwelling urinary catheters (IUC). Tools: Two tools were used; First Tool: Patient Health Assessment (PHA) includes First Part: Demographic Data (DD) Second Part: Medical Data (MD). The second Tool: The Urinary Tract Infection Assessment Checklist (UTIAC), includes First Part: Urinary Tract Infection Manifestation (UTIM) Second Part: Laboratory Criteria (LC). Results: The intervention group (IG) had a lower incidence of UTI (10.0%) compared to the control group (CG) (46.66%), with a significant p-value of 0.001. Conclusion: Nursing instructions helped reduce the incidence of UTIs and improve patient outcomes. Recommendation: Designing standardized nursing protocol regarding the insertion, care, and removal of urinary catheters to upgrade nurses' knowledge and practice, and further research studies are needed on larger study samples.