Abstract:
Introduction/Purpose: Bronchitis is a common diagnosis in the urgent care setting. According to clinical practice guidelines, most cases do not require the use of antibiotic therapy. Despite this direction, antibiotics continue to be prescribed for this diagnosis. In the urgent care center of interest, more than 75% of patient encounters that received a diagnosis of bronchitis had an antibiotic prescribed in 2019. Methods: A voluntary sample of urgent care nurse practitioners received education regarding clinical practice guidelines for treatment of bronchitis. Evaluation of pre- and post-intervention prescribing patterns were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. Results: The results of the intervention demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in antibiotics prescribed by nurse practitioners for the diagnosis of bronchitis (pre-intervention prescribing rate of 86.2%, post-intervention prescribing rate of 64.5%). Conclusion: Providing an educational intervention aimed at improving adherence to clinical practice guidelines is effective at reducing the number of inappropriate antibiotics prescribed for bronchitis in the urgent care setting.
