Early Identification of Urinary Tract Infections utilizing McGeers Criteria within Long-Term Care Facilities

Abstract

Record ID: 102

Type: Poster Presentation (in-person)

Advisor: Mohammad Othman

Abstract: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are microbial invasions of the urinary system and are the leading cause of infection in long-term care facilities (LTCFs.). UTIs present with various signs and symptoms like fever, chills, and mental or functional status changes, etc. Another related issue faced by LTCFs is the differentiation between UTIs and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB.) ASB is the presence of bacteria in a urinary sample without UTI symptoms; which rarely requires treatment. ASB is problematic when inappropriate antibiotic treatment, causes opportunistic infections, antibiotic-resistant organisms and superinfections for patients like Clostridioides difficile colitis. Healthcare personnel in LTCFs have utilized the McGeer Criteria to identify early signs of UTIs. The PICOt question used was "Are long-term care residents whose nursing staff uses the McGeer criteria diagnosed earlier compared with those with standard practice of clinical nursing assessment without a formalized tool over one week?" The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on the use of the McGeer criteria as an early identification tool of UTIs. The LTCF staff was given a week to view a recorded video of an educational intervention introducing McGeer UTI Criteria, which was preceded by a pretest and succeeded by a posttest to evaluate its effectiveness.The outcome will help LTCF staff with early identification of UTI and differentiation from ASB to prevent the overprescribing of antibiotics, improving patient outcomes overall. The expected outcome is that staff will become more competent at identifying UTIs and communicating with healthcare providers.