A rough draft of your literature review: Hospital Acquired Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Answer

Hospital Acquired Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

The Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most prevalent hospital-acquired infection, which accounts for over 40% of all hospital-acquired infections. The resultant mortality and morbidity are a major drain to the medical department and hospital resources at large. Patients undergoing indwelling urinary catheters, patients with debilitating diseases, long-stay elderly male patients and patients undergoing urological manipulations are at a greater risk of developing hospital acquired UTIs. The urinary infections have received suggestively not as much of attention as other hospital acquired infections like bacteremia, surgical site infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. The neglect is related to the lower mortality and morbidity as observed with urinary infections compared with other infections. However, since the incidences are quite often, the cumulative effect is quite large. Additionally, the safety issue is broadly attributable to an invasive care intervention, which renders the prevention case more compelling.

Research Questions

1. What is the occurrence rate of hospital acquired UTIs?
2. What are the main risk factors associated with the health menace?
3. Are the current hospital practices adequate to control UTIs?
4. What policies can be implemented to reduce incidences of hospital-acquired UTIs?
5. What are the major limitations to the implementation of care interventions in hospitals?
6. What are the main strategies to minimize hospital-acquired UTIs?

Literature Review

            UTIs are the key causes of morbidity and comorbidities in patients who present with underlying conditions (Odoki et al., 2019). The article by Odoki and colleagues (2019) has been included in this review since it provides relevant information about the prevalence of UTIs, risk factors, and types of common bacterial pathogens associated with UTIs. Screening for UTIs in female gender, hospitalized patients, married individuals, diabetics, those using indwelling catheters and/or those with genitourinary tract abnormalities is highly recommended (Odoki et al., 2019).  Another article by Flores-Mireles et al. (2016) has been selected for review since it provides important information relating to the subject matter and research questions including epidemiology of UTIs, mechanisms of UTI infections, and available treatment options. A wide range of other pathogens causing UTIs are provided (Flores-Mireles et al., 2016). In addition, Gharbi et al.’s (2019) is relevant for this case since it affirms that first line antibiotics is recommended for older patients who present with UTIs. Gharbi and colleagues also provides the statistics on the prevalence and incidence of UTIs (Gharbi et al., 2019).

            Hospital interventions to minimize incidences of UTIs are strongly advocated for.  Finucane’s (2017) article is included in this literature since it provides information on the diagnosis and management of UTIs, the paradigm shift, and body as battleground versus human as habit debates. Finucane (2017) has pointed out that management of uncomplicated UTIs is deeply flawed (Finucane, 2017). Similarly, Spoorenberg and colleagues (2014) are of the view that antibiotics should be used appropriately so as to reduce the length of the hospital stays. Lastly, but not the least, a better understanding of the characteristics and epidemiology of UTIs will be provided by Hanna-Wakim et al.’s (2015) article. The limitation of the above articles is that majority are narrow in scope or specific to a given area/locality. Future studies should focus on policies in relation to UTIs management and prevention.

Conclusion

UTIs are the most causes of morbidity and comorbidities in patients who present with other underlying conditions. The planned review will provide an analysis of the occurrence, risk factors, hospital intervention measures, policies, limitations of implemented interventions, and evaluation of effective strategies to be used in minimizing the risk of UTIs. Prevention of UTIs is the key to better management of these infections.