Gouverneur Skilled Nursing Facility augments UTI detection and treatment
Urinary tract infections are the second most frequent infection in nursing facilities, exceeded only by respiratory conditions. Elderly residents in nursing facilities are at greater risk of UTIs that result in a hospital admission than elderly people living in a community setting. Hoping to reduce the rate of UTIs among residents, staff at Gouverneur Skilled Nursing Facility (a member of NYC Health + Hospitals) implemented a targeted care bundle in 2020.
The care bundle is part of standard treatment for residents and is based on simple, practical approaches. Key components of the bundle include:
- monitoring hand hygiene compliance;
- hydration stations accessible to residents maintained by nutrition services;
- frequent check of residents’ hydration status by medical and nursing staff;
- effective incontinence and perineal care by certified nursing aides;
- daily discussions of UTI prevention at medical/nursing staff huddles;
- resident and family education through council meetings by social workers and activity staff; and
- in-house treatment of UTIs instead of hospitalization.
Implementation and consistent use and buy-in of the UTI care bundle successfully reduced the rate of UTIs among Gouverneur SNF residents from 1.2% in 2020 to 0.4% in 2021.
For more information, contact Emalyn Bravo, RN, MA, MS, associate director, quality and risk management, at emalyn.bravo@nychhc.org or 212.238.7691.
