Automatic Stop Orders for Urinary Catheters

Overview

Urinary tract infections are the most common type of hospital-acquired infection. The majority of these infections result from the use of indwelling urinary catheters. Often caregivers leave them in unnecessarily. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of an automatic stop order (automatic removal or urinary catheters when they no longer needed) in reducing urinary infections.

We will randomize patients with urinary catheters to either automatic stop orders or to usual care. The primary outcome will be urinary tract infection. Secondary outcomes will include days of indwelling urinary catheterization, symptomatic urinary tract infection, isolation of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria from catheterized urine, antimicrobial use, bacteremia (blood-stream) infection secondary to urinary tract infection, and cost. We hypothesize that use of the automatic stop order will significantly reduce hospital-acquired urinary tract infection.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (3)

Outcomes