Date of Award
5-2023
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Departmental Honors
Department
Nursing
Abstract
The purpose of this paper may be divided into two parts. The first part was a literature review that sought to determine the most common risk factors for developing a urinary tract infection in nursing homes, as well as to identify evidence-based practice interventions for decreasing UTI rates within that specific patient population. The second part consisted of a case study that sought to apply the principles gathered from the literature review to the UTI logs of a deidentified local nursing home. It was found that indwelling urinary catheters and age are the two most common precipitating risk factors for developing a UTI. In addition, prevalence of other risk factors is dependent on the specific qualities of each nursing home and their patients. Thus, initial interventions should begin with an extensive root cause analysis. Front-line staff should also be involved in the initiation and maintenance of any interventions. In terms of the case study, many of the principles identified in the literature review were found to be present in the participating nursing home. It was also found that the nursing home’s rehabilitation hall had a statistically significant higher mean number of UTI cases in comparison to the long-term hall. A root cause questionnaire was designed and provided to the nursing home in order to address this trend.
Recommended Citation
Griffin, Hailey, "Evidence-Based Approaches to Lowering UTI Rates in Skilled Nursing Facilities: A Review of the Literature and Application to a Local Skilled Nursing Home" (2023). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 958.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/958
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Faculty Mentor
Jeanette Harris
Departmental Honors Advisor
Megan Gunnell