Better tools are needed to measure and reduce perioperative urinary catheter use, as well as manage postoperative urinary retention and urinary catheter-associated complications. A comprehensive toolkit was developed, implemented, and evaluated in collaboration with a pilot group of Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) hospitals’, surgeons, and nurses. The novel measures and toolkit could dramatically reduce common, costly, and morbid complications related to perioperative urinary catheter use, adaptable to many other surgical procedures, to improve the safety of our most vulnerable patients.

The toolkit intervention will address clinician knowledge and urinary catheterization skills, as well as communication and implementation challenges anticipated to impact catheter use in different types of perioperative clinical settings. This intervention aims to reduce inappropriate perioperative urinary catheter use, catheter-associated complications including infections and catheter-associated trauma, and improve the management of postoperative urinary retention.