Pneumonia and Timely Antibiotic Therapy

The purpose of this project to educate hospital staff concerning the fact that research supports a best practice protocol that pneumonia patients should be provided with antibiotics within 4 hours of being admitted to the hospital. Pneumonia is defined by Evans and Tippins (2007) as being "an acute inflammation of the lower respiratory tract most commonly due to viral and bacterial infection. Areas or lobes of the lungs become consolidated resulting in an impairment of gas exchange" (p. 224). The environment of the project is a tertiary hospital facility that provides surgical, medical and rehabilitation services. The question is whether pneumonia patients should be given antibiotics within a certain time frame, such as 4 hours after being admitted to the hospital. At present, pneumonia remains the leading cause of death attributable to infection in patients aged 65 years and older and accounts for 13% to...
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