Using NDNQI data to manage CAUTI

Abstract

ospital-acquired catheter-associated uri-nary tract infections (CAUTIs) are clas-sified as a never event by the Centersfor Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) and are no longer reimbursed.Never events can cause serious injuryor death to patients and result in increasedcosts from additional days in the hospital,nursing care, medical treatments, and devices.Therefore, the new rule puts forth an incentivefor hospitals to eliminate or reduce neverevents in order to avoid costs for which therewill be no reimbursement. To prepare for thisresponsibility, nurse managers must knowmore about the prevalence of never events,improve nursing assessment tools and preven-tion strategies, and identify best practices foreffective and efficient treatment of theseevents. By implementing effective practices ina sustainable manner and monitoring theimpact of those interventions, nurse managerscan reduce avoidable, nonreimbursed costs totheir facilities.The National Database of Nursing QualityIndicators (NDNQI) began collecting data onCAUTI rates for ICUs in the fourth quarter of2007. Using these data, nurse managers cancompare the CAUTI rates for their units withpeer units in similar facilities and examinetrends in their rates over time.Defining CAUTICAUTIs may be the least regarded never eventbecause they’re viewed as a minor infectioncausing less morbidity and mortality than cen-tral line-associated bloodstream infections, forexample.