Assessing antibiotic prescribing in nurse practitioners: Applied cognitive task analysis

Prescribing antibiotics is a demanding and complex task where decision-making skills are of critical importance to minimize the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Despite its importance, little is known about the decision-making skills and cognitive strategies new Nurse Practitioners (NPs) use when prescribing antibiotics.

To identify the cognitive demands of antibiotic prescribing complexity and to explore the cognitive strategies that new NPs in New Zealand use when prescribing antibiotics.

A qualitative approach using Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) methodology.

A purposive sample was recruited consisting of five NPs who had been registered within the last five years and were prescribing antibiotics as part of their scope of practice.

In-depth face-to-face interviews consisting of a task diagram interview and a knowledge audit were conducted and analyzed following the ACTA protocol.

Four cognitive elements were identified from the data which showed the cognitive demands of prescribing antibiotics, and the cues and strategies NPs use for safe practice. These were: 1 prescribing in the face of uncertainty (complex patients and diagnostic uncertainty); 2 making clinical decisions with insufficient/poor guidance (lack of guidelines, conflicting information); 3 producing an individualized treatment plan in view of clinical and non-clinical patient factors (patient demand/expectation, inadequate patient education, risks versus benefits of antibiotic treatment); 4 ensuring treatment efficacy and continuity of care (ineffective treatment, patient care follow up).

The ACTA framework has given insight into the current antibiotic prescribing practice of new NPs, identifying areas where professional development courses and treatment resources can be targeted to support antibiotic prescribing. NPs are likely to benefit from resources that are freely available and reflect national or local antimicrobial data. Further work is also warranted to determine whether targeted education resources and clinical pathways will help with diagnostic uncertainty, and how this could be embedded into existing curricula.