Antibiotic Stewardship in the Geriatric Population
QUESTION
This week, you will seek approval for a research area for your quantitative research proposal project due in weeks 7 and 8. Submit a one-page, double-spaced paper addressing the following points:
Identify your chosen research topic: Antibiotic Stewardship in the Geriatric Population
Create at least one problem statement to go along with your chosen research area
Identify your research question/s
Explain the significance of the research topic to nursing
Upon completion, your instructor will approve, deny, or make recommendations for modifications of your research topic, problem statement, or research question(s) to ensure successful completion of the research proposal project.
Antibiotic Stewardship in the Geriatric Population
ANSWER
Week 1: Research Proposal
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Week 1: Research Proposal
Introduction
Various challenges affect the healthcare system, hindering its ability to deliver high-quality and safe healthcare services. This results in poor patient health outcomes, increased healthcare costs, and overall reduced general population quality of life. The various devastating impacts call for the need to develop interventions, which will effectively address the different health challenges and improve the quality of life of the general population. One of the challenges affecting the healthcare sector, which forms the topic of this research, is antibiotic resistance.
Problem Statement
Antibiotic resistance is a significant health concern, primarily associated with misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The abuse and overuse of antibiotics are high among the nursing home population, mainly the elderly population (Beckett et al., 2015). The resulting high rates of antibiotic resistance make it challenging to treat common conditions, thus threatening patient safety, quality of life and increasing the cost of healthcare since managing these conditions requires more advanced medications, which are often expensive (Buowari, 2017). The impacts are more devastating among the geriatric population, given the compromised nature of their immune system that comes with advancing age.
Research Question
Applying the PICO (T) framework helps compare different interventions and determine the most effective one in addressing the healthcare issue. In this research, the question is: in the geriatric population (P), how does antibiotic stewardship (I) compared to failing to embrace such a practice (C) help in preventing antibiotic misuse and abuse, thereby improving patient care and outcome (O) over 18 months (T)?
Significance of the Research Topic to Nursing
Nurses are the primary care providers with an obligation to ensure that patients receive high-quality and safe healthcare services that will improve their health outcomes and quality of life by addressing various challenges they face, such as participating in antibiotic stewardship (Manning et al., 2016). Antibiotic resistance hinders their ability to deliver such quality care, which can affect the nurses. This research topic is relevant to the nurses, as they can expand their knowledge regarding this healthcare problem through it. Additionally, they learn about effective and evidence-based interventions that they can apply to address this issue and prevent future occurrences of similar cases.
References
Beckett, C. L., Harbarth, S., & Huttner, B. (2015). Special considerations of antibiotic prescription in the geriatric population. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(1), 3-9. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X1400041X
Buowari, Y. D. (2017). Antibiotic resistance in the elderly. Journal of Aging Research and Healthcare, 1(4), 1. https://oap-journals.net/jarh/article/439
Manning, M. L., Pfeiffer, J., & Larson, E. L. (2016). Combating antibiotic resistance: the role of nursing in antibiotic stewardship. American journal of infection control, 44(12), 1454-1457. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655316306265