Reseach Proposal Topic/Help.

I'm wondering how you would propose to do such a reseach project. I don't think it would be ethical to leave foleys in patients to see how long it takes someone to get an UTI. Might you do it by chart audit? That would be possible, I think. I do think the topic has been researched though. That's likely since we have standards on how soon foleys should be changed. Try doing a search on pertinent words in Medscape or other medical search engines, or even google.com.

Do you have other ideas? What's the area you work in? Any special interests on what you'd like to do later?

Well i'm not a nurse yet....i do not work in a hospital but have had 4 clinicals.....we are supposed to use a tool/method/questionnaire that has already been used....i was thinking into maybe going into anesthesiology......thanks foe your help btw......i did think that maybe the UTI topic has already been researched......everything is so vague....i'm like totally lost....

i know at my facility we don't have a policy stating "a foley should be d/c'd or changed by this date." which makes me think there is no literature supporting the specific time a foley should be changed. from what i understand, most of the evidence points to good foley care, appropriate securement of the catheter via a cath strap of some type, and not elevating the bag above the level of the bladder as preventative strategies. you could look into preventative compliance rates and how they compare with UTI rates in a facility. :)

Did your instructor specify tools/methods/questionnaires or do you have to find them on your own? I'd love to help more, but you're right....it's vague!

Christen's idea is a good one....

Yes, we have guidelines....that's the easy part....the difficulty is to find a good topic....I think I may just stick with the foley one.....but that is a vague topic also.....i'll have to browse another ton of articles to see what's been done and what has not. Thanks guys...really appreciate it