Background: Indwelling urinary catheters (IDUCs) are commonplace in hospital medicine wards, facilitating patient care but introducing risks such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). The urgency to minimize these complications has spurred initiatives to refine catheter utilization protocols. This study examines the efficacy of the Foley Removal Countdown Strategy, a novel, proactive approach in the hospitalist ward to expedite catheter removal and enhance patient outcomes.
Methods: This prospective cohort study included 80 patients from a tertiary care hospital’s hospitalist ward. Parameters recorded encompassed patient demographics, catheterization indications, duration, complications, and hospital stay length. The innovative Foley Removal Countdown Strategy, entailing daily evaluations for catheter necessity, aimed to facilitate earlier removal.
Results: Implementation of the Foley Removal Countdown Strategy yielded a catheter removal rate of 65.2%, exceeding the target by 32.5%. This marked a notable improvement rate of 48.18% over prior benchmarks. The duration of catheterization was reduced significantly, from an average of 21 days to 13.1 days post-intervention. This reduction coincided with a decrease in the catheter indwelling rate from 28% to 25.33% and a drop in infection rates from 3.07% to 2.59%.
Conclusions: The Foley Removal Countdown Strategy has proven to be a transformative approach within the hospitalist ward, significantly expediting the removal of Foley catheters, diminishing CAUTI rates, and potentially reducing other associated complications and the duration of hospital stays. The implications of this study underscore the importance of incorporating evidence-based strategies to mitigate IDUC-related risks, enhancing overall patient care efficiency and safety. The promising results advocate for further exploration through expanded multicenter studies and rigorous randomized controlled trials, underscoring the potential of this strategy to revolutionize IDUC management protocols in diverse healthcare settings.