The effect of education given to caregivers of home care patients with a urinary catheters on the knowledge level of caregivers and urinary tract infection rate of patients

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effect of the education given to the caregivers of home care patients with urinary catheters on the knowledge level of caregivers and the urinary tract infection rate of patients. Material and Method: The study was conducted between May 01, 2024 and May 01, 2025 on patients with urinary catheters and their caregivers registered to Ordu University Training and Research Hospital Home Health Services as quasi-experimental with a single group pretest-posttest experimental model. The population of the study consisted of 71 patients with urinary catheters and their caregivers registered to Ordu University Training and Research Hospital Home Health Services, and the sample consisted of 32 patients and caregivers who met the research criteria and agreed to participate in the study. The data of the study were collected with the "Patient and Caregiver Introduction Form", "Knowledge Test" and "Urine Strip". In the study, caregivers received training once a week (face-to-face sessions 1 and 4, online sessions 2 and 3) for 4 weeks and were given brochures. The data were evaluated with descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon test and McNemar Test. Institutional permission and ethics committee approval were obtained for the study. Results: In the study, a statistically significant difference was found between the knowledge test pre-test and post-test median values of the caregivers (p<0.001). While the median value of the pre-test knowledge test of the caregivers was 31.5, the median value of the post-test knowledge test was 43. A statistically significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test leukocyte, nitrite, urobilinogen, protein, pH, blood, specific gravity urine analysis values (p<0.001). The values of these parameters were found to be within the normal range in the post-test compared to the pretest. There was no statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest urinalysis ketone, bilirubin and glucose values (p>0.05). Conclusions: In the study, it was found that the training given to the caregivers of patients with urinary catheters increased the knowledge level of caregivers and decreased the urinary tract infection rate of patients. In line with these results, it is recommended to provide training to increase the knowledge level of caregivers of patients with urinary catheters and to reduce the infection rate of patients. Keywords: Caregiver, home care, infection, nursing, urinary catheter.