Barriers in clinical use of evidence-based urethral catheter cleaning: a qualitative study based on theoretical domains framework

Objective To explore the barriers in the clinical use of evidence-based urethral catheter cleaning. Methods The interview outline was developed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) from September to October 2018. Totally 19 nurses working in the Department of Urinary Surgery at Peking University First Hospital was selected for semi-structural interview by convenient sampling, and content analysis was conducted based on the results. Results A total of 4 barriers related to 4 domains under the TDF were found in this study, namely, social / professional roles and identities, confidence in results, environmental factors and resources, and social impact. The subjects were extracted on this basis, which were lack of knowledge conversion process and norms in the department, poor self-management ability in the patients, and insufficient catheter cleaning resources. Conclusions The clinical use of evidence-based urethral catheter cleaning is affected by multiple factors, including systems, patients and resource availability. Departments need to explore and develop the norms for knowledge transformation, improve the self-management ability of postoperative patients, provide sufficient resources for catheter cleaning, and promote the clinical use of evidence-based urethral catheter cleaning. Key words: Urethral catheter; Cleaning; Theoretical Domains Framework; Semi-structural interview; Barrier; Knowledge transformation