Joint Commission targets CAUTIs with updated NPSG

 Earlier this year, The Joint Commission updated its National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) on catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) for hospitals and critical access hospitals. It also created a new CAUTI NPSG for nursing care centers.

“An estimated 1 to 3 million healthcare-associated infections strike nursing home residents annually, and many of these are infections related to urinary catheters,” wrote David Baker, MD, MPH, FACP, Joint Commission executive vice president, in a blog post. “CAUTIs can lead to serious complications and hospitalizations. And, the rate of these infections is even higher for hospital patients. This is why The Joint Commission felt it was important to implement its new National Patient Safety Goal for nursing care centers and an updated goal for hospitals and critical access hospitals to reflect the latest scientific evidence.”

Among the new changes are requirements to:

•    Educate staff on how to correctly use and insert indwelling catheters.
•    Educate patients and family on CAUTI risks and prevention
•    Use evidence-based guidelines to write catheter use policies.
•    Follow written procedures based on established evidence-based guidelines for inserting and maintaining an indwelling urinary catheter.
•    Maintain an up-to-date record of catheter use; who has one inserted, when was it implanted, etc.

All the changes go into effect on January 1, 2017 and are meant to improve staff training, educate patients, and update policies with evidence-based practices. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it wants to see a 50% reduction in CAUTI by 2020.