Background and Objectives: Nosocomial infections as a major present-century health problem inflicts great loss of life and high costs on the inpatients. With regard to high frequency of nosocomial infections and their importance this study was conducted with the aim of determining the incidence of nosocomial infections in intensive care unit (ICU) of Shafiieh hospital in zanjan during the years 2003 to 2004.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on 150 ICU patients who had urethral catheter and were qualified to enter the research (no infection at hospitalization time and the need for Foley catheter). For all research cases urine culture was performed on arrival at the unit and every 48 – 72 hours until discharge, and demographic characteristics questionnaire and disease severity evaluation questionnaire (APACHE II) were completed. To evaluate the validity of data collecting tool content validity method and to evaluate the reliability of APACHE II inter observer reliability were used. For reliability of urine culture results all specimens were tested in the same laboratory by the same person through the same technique. The data were analysed with the help of descrptive and analytical statistics (2 test and t-test). The incidence frequency rate of nosocomial UTI, common microorganisms, and the association of disease severity, bed time, gender, and age with infection incidence were determined.
Results: The incidence frequency rate of nosocomial UTI in hospital’s ICU was found to be 25%. The most common microorganisms causing nosocomial UTI were: E.coli (50%) staphylococcus (17.5%), Klebsiella (7.5%), fungal infections (5%) and Entrobacter (2.5%). There was a significant difference in females between period of urethral catheter use, period of bedtime and occurance of urinary infection (p=0.05). No significant difference was observed between age and nosocomial UTI.
Conclusion: According to research findings there was a significant association between females bed time and the length of urethral catheter use with infection incidence. Implementation of preventive policy such as application of catheter only in urgent cases, using aseptic methods in treatment and nursing, separation of the patients having catheter, and employment of infection control plan are recommended.