Adherence to Evidence-Based Guidelines and Implications When Designing Electronic Documentation for Urinary Catheters.
Bothe Janine, Lagat Sheena, Rebecca Crellin and 2 others
PMID 39370543WHAT IT FOUND
In three Australian hospitals, catheter care was often done but poorly documented: insertion documentation compliance was 40%, with only 2% recording catheter batch number.
Care compliance averaged 77%, but catheter securement was 58%.
Key findings
01Among 1730 audited inpatients, 224 had an indwelling urinary catheter, a point prevalence of 12.9%; 19 catheterised patients were not audited, giving an audit rate of 92%.
02Mean compliance with indwelling catheter insertion documentation was 40%; only 2% recorded the catheter batch number, and compliance was significantly higher when a template was used.
03Mean compliance with observed catheter management was 77%; the lowest points were documenting the drainage bag change date (15%) and securing the catheter to the thigh (58%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a single-day cross-sectional audit, so it is a point prevalence snapshot and may not reflect routine variation over time. Audit teams worked within the hospitals they audited, which could introduce bias. 19 catheterised patients were not audited, so the compliance rates may not represent all patients with a catheter. Children, outpatients, secure mental health units and patients unable to consent were excluded, so the findings may not apply to those groups. The template comparison was observational, not randomised, so it cannot prove that templates caused better documentation. The audit measured documentation and observed care, not catheter-associated infection outcomes, so it cannot show whether documentation changes would reduce infections.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the low documentation rates as proof that bedside catheter care was poor. Observed care compliance averaged 77%, and the audit did not report catheter-associated infection outcomes, so it cannot show whether better documentation would reduce infections.