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School of Nursing

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Browsing School of Nursing by Author "Alsamah, Wasim"

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    Providers’ Knowledge and Utility of Delayed Antibiotic Prescriptions in Primary Care
    Alsamah, Wasim; Acker, Kristi; Fritch, Robert; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Introduction/Purpose: Unnecessary Antibiotic Prescription remains an ongoing problem for countries around the world, including United States. Most patients with acute respiratory infections(ARIs) do not benefit from antibiotic treatment. Köchling et al. (2018) explain that antibiotics do not provide any benefit to patients with ARIs,because the severity and duration of their condition do not change considerably. Researchers have evaluated many methods to lower the unnecessary useof antibiotics. One of the most successful methods was implementing delayed prescription (DAP). DAP is providing the patient with a prescription and a recommendation to fill out only if the initial symptoms worsen. However, many primary care providers are either unaware of DAP or reluctant to implement it. The purpose of this study is to increase providers’ knowledge of antibiotic resistance in the community and to determine the barriers of primary care providers to starting patients on DAP. Method: This quality improvement studywasconducted with a pretest-intervention-posttest strategy. A questionnaire was administered to participants to determine participants’ knowledge of and barriers to initiating DAP. Following the pretest, a 30-minute educational intervention waspresented on DAP, then providers were given one month to integrate the DAP program when applicable, followed by administration of the questionnaire as a posttest.The results of both questionnaires were compared with descriptive statistics and a paired-sample t test. Results: Paired t tests demonstrate that 6 items indicated significant improvements from pretest: providers’ view of DAP in reducing scheduled visits, inappropriate use of antibiotics, emergency visits, optimizing resources in clinic, providers’ knowledge about DAP, and changing patients’ perceptions to antibiotics. Further analysis revealed insignificant differences in 2 items; providers’ willingness to discuss DAP with their patients, and their readiness to initiate it. Discussion: Results were statistically significant for most of the questions involving providers’ perceptions on DAP effects on reducing scheduled visits, emergency visits, inappropriate antibiotic use, and the likelihood of provider’s willingness to include DAP in their practice. Implementation of this project should help primary care providers deliver necessary and timely care to adults presenting with ARIs.