Strategies in Controlling Antibiotic Resistance

1287 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The use and overuse of antibiotics

Summary
The article I chose to summarize discusses many different ways to control antibiotic resistance. I thought it was a good article for me to read so I can adapt some of these strategies in my practice as a nurse practitioner. Healthcare has been forever changed with the discovery of antibiotics. Although considered one of the biggest discoveries in the last century, there has been less work done to create new antibiotics in more recent years. Once antibiotic use became widespread, resistance to these drugs has been slowly brewing. This antibiotic resistance has taken its toll on healthcare and something needs to be done to combat this problem. Encouraging the discovery of new antibiotics, preventing the overprescribing of antibiotics currently on the market, and decreasing the time needed to get lab results are just a few ways to combat antibiotic resistance. Healthcare providers need to play a major role in fixing this problem.
This article discusses how antibiotics work. It is important to understand how antibiotics work so we can better understand how to control antibiotic resistance. Each antibiotic works differently, but they all do the same thing in the end and that is to stop the bacteria from living and growing. This can be done by stopping the cell wall of the bacteria from forming properly which will lead to the cell filling with water and dying due to the membrane rupturing. Another way antibiotics work is by preventing the synthesis of protein. Proteins are needed for chemical reactions and cell division so inhibiting the production of protein will stop cell division so no new bacteria will grow, but also allow the already existing bacteria to die. Antibiotics can also disrupt DNA synthesis. This wi...

... middle of paper ...

...help prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance. I know that I need to limit my antibiotic prescribing. I know that teaching my patients about common illnesses and infections and about antibiotics will help me in my practice. Teaching infection prevention will also become an important part of my practice. I understand the importance of prescribing the proper antibiotic and I will strive to prescribe narrow spectrum drugs if possible. I will rely on diagnostics and susceptibility tests to improve my antibiotic prescribing capabilities. I will make sure to keep up to date on all the latest information about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance so I can prescribe the best possible medication for me patients.

Works Cited

Aziz, A.-M. (2013). The role of healthcare strategies in controlling antibiotic resistance. British Journal of Nursing, 22(18), 1066-1074.

Show More
Related

  • Addie Rerecich Case Study Answers

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many countries in Europe collect data on the locations of antimicrobial resistance occurrences, the number of incidences , who uses antibiotics, and the health practitioners who may overusing the antibiotics so as to address the problem of anti-microbial resistance.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451: The Overuse Of Prescription Drugs In America

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to USA Today, U.S. doctors are prescribing enough antibiotics to give to 4 out of 5 Americans every year, an alarming pace that suggests they are being excruciatingly overused. In fact, Dr. Aunna Pourang from MD states, “to give you an idea of how high the pressure is to prescribe antibiotics, I didn’t get a job once because during the interview I told the lead physician that I only prescribe antibiotic prescriptions when they are warranted.” The development and widespread obsession of antibiotics, or drugs that kill bacteria and thereby reduce infection, has helped billions of people live longer, healthier lives. Unfortunately, the more we rely on and abuse antibiotics, the more bacteria develop resistance to them, which makes treating infections that much more challenging and leads to the growth of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Research from the Center of Disease Control found that two million people in the United States become infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria, while 23,000 people die from such infections each year. Americans often aren’t informed on the power of the human body and rush to assumptions when perfection isn’t present. In a nutshell, the obsession of antibiotics is quite deadly and needs to be addressed before it’s too

    Read More

  • Antibiotic Resistance Case Study

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important issues facing health care today, with wide reaching future implications if abuse continues. In the United States alone, antibiotic resistance is responsible for over two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year. Providers need to be judicious in the disbursement of these life saving pharmacological agents, while being informative of why antibiotics are not always the answer (Talkington, Cairns, Dolen, & Mothershed, 2014). In the case listed below, several issues need to be addressed including perception, knowledge deficit, and the caregiver’s role. This paper will focus on whether a prescription for antibiotics is appropriate and other courses of action that may be taken instead.

    Read More

  • The CDC's Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nurses should take a leading role in reducing the impact of disease on patients and influence the expansion of evidence based infection prevention practice. Antimicrobial resistance prevention must remain a huge priority. In times of opposing priorities concerning patient safety, progress has been made in undertaking these bacteria’s and infections. The outlook of a near future without helpful antibiotics should not be dismissed, and all us in positions of influence should encourage and educate the conscientious use of antimicrobials seriously and do what we can to stop the situation from spreading.

    Read More

  • Antibiotics Essay

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The World Health Organization projects that as drug effectiveness decreases and antibiotic resistance increases, public education becomes more and more crucial” (476) Antibiotics were discovered in 1940 and since have been abused and misused. Between bad practices and lack of proper education antibiotic resistance has been allowed to occur. The only way to combat bacterial infections is with strong patient education and following the correct schedule in taking antibiotics.

    Read More

  • Superbugs Essay

    2729 Words  | 6 Pages

    Resistance arises from mutations that are not under the control of humans, but the evolution of bacteria has been sped along by the overexposure of antibiotics to both people and animals. The number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in an area is closely related to the frequency that antibiotics that are prescribed (Todar, 2012). Patients often unnecessarily demand antibiotics to treat common colds or simple illnesses that are not caused by bacteria. Instead, these infections are caused by viruses which, unlike bacteria, are unaffected by antibiotics. Incorrect diagnosis can also lead patients to using unnecessary antibiotics, which can sometimes be even more dangerous than otherwise left untreated. Besides the fact that antibiotics kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestines, misuse of antibiotics provides an opportunity ...

    Read More

  • Health Associated Infections

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prevention of hospital-acquired infections: review of non-pharmacological interventions. Journal of Hospital Infection, 69(3), 204-219. Revised 01/20 Haugen, N., Galura, S., & Ulrich, S. P. (2011). Ulrich & Canale's nursing care planning guides: Prioritization, delegation, and critical thinking. Maryland Heights, Mo. : Saunders/Elsevier.

    Read More

  • Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria

    1636 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    Resistance first appears in a population of bacteria through conditions that favor its selection. When an antibiotic attacks a group of bacteria, cells that are highly susceptible to the medicine will die. On the other hand, cells that have some resistance from the start or acquire it later may survive. At the same time, when antibiotics attack disease-causing bacteria, they also attack benign bacteria. This process eliminates drug-susceptible bacteria and favors bacteria that are resistant. Two things happen, populations of non-resistant and harmless bacteria are diminished, and because of the reduction of competition from these harmless and/or susceptible bacteria, resistant forms of disease-causing bacteria proliferate. As the resistant forms of the bacteria proliferate, there is more opportunity for genetic or chromosomal mutation (spontaneous DNA mutation (1)) or transformation, that comes about either through a form of microbial sex (1) or through the transference of plasmids, small circles of DNA (1), which allow bacteria to interchange genes with ease. Sometimes genes can also be t...

    Read More

  • The Overuse of Antibiotics

    3053 Words  | 7 Pages

    Generally in life, an overabundance of anything is thought of as a blessing.For instance, most people would say that there is no point where someone has too much money, or too much time; however, having and using too many antibiotics can be a problem.With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming warned that, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."[1]Following with Fleming's words antibiotics need to be prescribed in a judicious fashion, not of one with a careless action, "one third of the 150 million outpatient prescriptions are unnecessary."[2]With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the physician but also the patient.

    Read More

  • The Discovery of Antibiotics by Alexander Fleming

    3182 Words  | 7 Pages

    The discovery of antibiotics is attributed to Alexander Fleming who discovered the first antibiotic to be commercially used (Penicillin) in approximately 1928. An antibiotic, also known as an antimicrobial, is a medication that is taken in order to either destroy or slow the growth rate of bacteria. Antibiotics are integral to the success of many medical practises, such as; surgical procedures, organ transplants, the treatment of cancer and the treatment of the critically ill. (Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2013)

    Read More

  • Evidence Based Practice: Infection Control

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s and measurement to decrease healthcare- associated infections. American Journal Of Infection Control, pp. S19-S25. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.02.008.

    Read More

  • Antimicrobial Resistance In Agriculture

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is estimated that over one-half of the antibiotics in the U.S. are used in food animal production. The overuse of antimicrobials in food animal production is an under-appreciated problem. In both human and veterinary medicine, the risk of developing resistance rises each time bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials. Resistance opens the door to treatment failure for even the most common pathogens and leads to an increasing number of infections. The mounting evidence of the relationship between antimicrobial use in animal husbandry and the increase in bacterial resistance in humans has prompted several reviews of agricultural practices by scientific authorities in a number of countries, including the US.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Antibiotic Resistance

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant bacteria,

    Read More

  • Positive Externalities In Health Care

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    “An interesting byproduct of the newer solutions to medical dilemmas is the slowly growing resistance of antibiotics in bacteria (“Externalities”, 2016)”. The person who is affected by the negative externality concerning the use of antibiotics by others will see it as lowered utility: either subjective displeasure or potentially explicit costs, such as higher medical expenses in the future to treat infections that could have otherwise been treated easily at a lower cost (Ditah, 2011). In order to mitigate antibiotic resistance, healthcare workers should stop prescribing antibiotics unless it’s truly necessary. Additionally, the government should make more of an effort to tackle antibiotic resistance. People should also be educated about how overuse is

    Read More

More about Strategies in Controlling Antibiotic Resistance

Open Document