On this page: Background | Educational Resources | Setting-Specific Resources | Patient Resources | Data & Reporting
Background
When germs enter the bladder or kidneys, it can cause an infection called a urinary tract infection (UTI). Some people have a tube called a urinary catheter in their bladder to drain urine. When germs enter the body through a urinary catheter, it can cause a catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI).
How long the catheter has been in place is the most important CAUTI risk factor. Other risk factors include female sex and older age (Patel et al., 2023).
Following recommended infection prevention practices before and after a urinary catheter is placed can help reduce the risk of CAUTI.
Educational Resources
VDH Infection Prevention and Control Assessments: The HAI/AR team is available to conduct a no-cost, non-regulatory, onsite visit to help a facility identify its infection prevention strengths and areas of opportunity.
- Guideline for Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections
- STRIVE Infection Control Training: CAUTI
- Targeted Assessment for Prevention – CAUTI assessment tool and CAUTI toolkit implementation guide
- Project Firstline - CDC’s Project Firstline provides innovative and accessible infection control education for all frontline healthcare workers
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Bladder Safe
- BladderSafe – resources for reducing UTI and CAUTI
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Group
- Virginia Infection Prevention and Control Training Alliance (VIPTA) - search the education and training resource library for resources related to urinary tract infections
Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center
- Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center (VIPTC) - courses and trainings related to infection prevention and control
World Health Organization
Setting-Specific Resources
CDC Interfacility Transfer Form - The patient transfer form helps make it easier to share information when patients are moved between different places for care. Hospitals and groups focused on making patient safety better can change and use this form to fit their needs.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) resources specific to hospital settings:
View Hospitals homepage
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and urinary tract infections (UTI) resources specific to long-term care settings:
- Is It a UTI? UTI in the Long-Term Care Setting: For Residents, Guests, Families, and Visitors (HQIN)
- Toolkit to Reduce CAUTI and Other HAIs in Long-Term Care Facilities (AHRQ)
- Urinary Tract Infections Tools and Posters, UTI Prevention Bundle, and Training (Health Services Advisory Group)
Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes
- Frequently Asked Questions: Urinary Tract Infections
- Urinary Catheter Checklist (Summer 2011)
- Urinary Catheter Reminder (Summer 2011)
Nursing Homes
Patient Resources
Data & Reporting
- CMS Care Compare – a searchable database of Medicare-certified facilities including hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals. Allows users to compare facilities on a variety of quality measures including CAUTI and other facility characteristics.
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
- Resources related to reporting CAUTI events to NHSN are available on the CDC website, including protocols, data collection forms, and analysis resources.
- Acute care hospital and long-term acute care hospital CAUTI data can be accessed on the VDH HAI/AR Program Data website.
Virginia Communicable Disease & Outbreak Reporting Requirements
- State regulatory code aligns Virginia’s healthcare-associated infections reporting requirements with those required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals report events to VDH via CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).