Arelis Román
Are Pneumonia Patients Receiving Their
Appropriate Initial Antibiotic Selection
Within Six Hours of Hospital Arrival?
SchoolJohn Marshall High School • Cleveland, Ohio
ProgramNursing Internship
MentorPatricia Shell, RN
DepartmentNursing Administration, Marymount Hospital
- Research
- Are Pneumonia Patients Receiving Their Appropriate Initial Antibiotic Selection within Six Hours of Hospital Arrival?
- Hypothesis
- In Marymount Hospital, there are specific guidelines indicating that pneumonia patients should be given antibiotics within six hours of hospital arrival. However, some of these patients are not receiving the appropriate antibiotics within this timeframe. The hypothesis is that if the pneumonia orders are carried out as instructed, all pneumonia patients will receive the appropriate antibiotics within the appropriate time period.
- Methodology
- Patients diagnosed with pneumonia were identified on EPIC. Records were reviewed retrospectively and prospectively for patients with a diagnosis of pneumonia at Marymount Hospital between June 8, 2008, and August 9, 2008, for a total of forty records. A comparison as to whether or not each pneumonia patient was being treated in a correct and timely manner was made.
- Outcomes
- Seventy-two percent of pneumonia patients admitted received the appropriate antibiotics within six hours of their hospital arrival, however, the Core Measure Standards ask ninety-five percent to receive the appropriate antibiotics. The Direct Admission process needs to be further researched since the data show that a greater percentage of patients admitted through this process are not receiving antibiotics in the appropriate time frame as compared with patients admitted through the Emergency Department.
