Preventing pediatric catheter-associated urinary tract infections utilizing urinary catheter Kamishibai cards (K-cards)

Am J Infect Control. 2023 Aug;51(8):919-925. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.11.019. Epub 2022 Dec 2.

Abstract

Background: We instituted Kamishibai (K-card rounding) with the goals of improving indwelling urinary catheter maintenance bundle reliability and decreasing catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates.

Method: In a free-standing children's hospital, we undertook a hospital-wide quality improvement project from January 2019 to June 2021 after developing a K-card based on our urinary catheter maintenance bundle. Auditors used K-cards to ask standardized questions during weekly rounds. Bundle reliability and CAUTI rates were analyzed prospectively.

Results: During the study period, 826 K-card audits were performed for 657 unique patients. While overall maintenance bundle reliability remained stable at 84%, there was a statistically significant improvement in reliability to the bundle element "medical discussion of need for the urinary catheter" from 88% to 94% (P = .01). The hospital-wide CAUTI rate significantly decreased (incidence rate ratio, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.15-0.93; P = .04).

Discussion: Hospital-wide urinary catheter K-card rounding facilitated standardized data collection, discussion of reliability and real-time feedback to nurses. Maintenance bundle reliability remained stable after implementation, accompanied by a significant decrease in the CAUTI rate.

Conclusions: Implementation of hospital-wide urinary catheter K-card rounding was associated with reduction in CAUTI rates. The project demonstrated likelihood of reproducibility with support of a multidisciplinary team.

Keywords: CAUTI; Catheter-related infection; Infection prevention; Kamishibai card; Quality improvement; Urinary tract infection.

MeSH terms

  • Catheter-Related Infections* / epidemiology
  • Catheter-Related Infections* / prevention & control
  • Child
  • Cross Infection* / epidemiology
  • Cross Infection* / etiology
  • Cross Infection* / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Quality Improvement
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Urinary Catheterization / adverse effects
  • Urinary Catheters / adverse effects
  • Urinary Tract Infections* / complications
  • Urinary Tract Infections* / epidemiology
  • Urinary Tract Infections* / prevention & control