Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases
Abstract Background Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) play a big role in minimizing antimicrobial resistance. Pharmacists are essential members of the health care team and in order for them to fulfill roles on ASP teams and become antimicrobial stewards, they must be prepared adequately by p...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03542-0 |
| _version_ | 1811241228449087488 |
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| author | Ziad G. Nasr Diala Al Haj Moustafa Sara Dahmani Kyle J. Wilby |
| author_facet | Ziad G. Nasr Diala Al Haj Moustafa Sara Dahmani Kyle J. Wilby |
| author_sort | Ziad G. Nasr |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) play a big role in minimizing antimicrobial resistance. Pharmacists are essential members of the health care team and in order for them to fulfill roles on ASP teams and become antimicrobial stewards, they must be prepared adequately by pharmacy schools prior to entry into actual practice. Although programming has been implemented into entry-to-practice programs worldwide, little is known about how students interpret antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) data and arrive at clinical decisions. We aimed to explore students’ cognitive processes and determine how they formulate therapeutic decisions when presented with AMS cases. Methods This was a qualitative study conducted using a case study approach, in which a sample (n=20) of pharmacy students was recruited to interpret AMS cases. Semi-structured 1-on-1 interviews were arranged with each participant. A think-aloud procedure with verbal protocol analysis was adopted to determine students’ decision-making processes. Thematic analysis was used to interpret themes from the interview data. Results Two themes were interpreted from the data: students’ focus and students’ approach to case interpretation. Students’ focus relates to external factors students consider when interpreting AMS case data and use to make and justify therapeutic decisions including patient-centered factors, drug-related factors, AMS interventions, and pharmacist’s role. Students’ clinical reasoning describes the approach that students use to interpret the data and the decision-making processes they employ to arrive at a clinical decision including a systematic approach versus non-systematic approach. Conclusions Students vary in their focus and the cognitive strategies used to interpret AMS cases. Findings support the notion that clinical reasoning and decision-making should be explicitly taught in pharmacy curricula, in order to help students become aware of their own cognitive processes and decision-making abilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:33:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f3e427d2d8c544da9827701896e52650 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:33:21Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-f3e427d2d8c544da9827701896e526502022-12-22T03:31:07ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-06-012211810.1186/s12909-022-03542-0Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship casesZiad G. Nasr0Diala Al Haj Moustafa1Sara Dahmani2Kyle J. Wilby3College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar UniversityCollege of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar UniversityCollege of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar UniversityCollege of Pharmacy, Dalhousie UniversityAbstract Background Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) play a big role in minimizing antimicrobial resistance. Pharmacists are essential members of the health care team and in order for them to fulfill roles on ASP teams and become antimicrobial stewards, they must be prepared adequately by pharmacy schools prior to entry into actual practice. Although programming has been implemented into entry-to-practice programs worldwide, little is known about how students interpret antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) data and arrive at clinical decisions. We aimed to explore students’ cognitive processes and determine how they formulate therapeutic decisions when presented with AMS cases. Methods This was a qualitative study conducted using a case study approach, in which a sample (n=20) of pharmacy students was recruited to interpret AMS cases. Semi-structured 1-on-1 interviews were arranged with each participant. A think-aloud procedure with verbal protocol analysis was adopted to determine students’ decision-making processes. Thematic analysis was used to interpret themes from the interview data. Results Two themes were interpreted from the data: students’ focus and students’ approach to case interpretation. Students’ focus relates to external factors students consider when interpreting AMS case data and use to make and justify therapeutic decisions including patient-centered factors, drug-related factors, AMS interventions, and pharmacist’s role. Students’ clinical reasoning describes the approach that students use to interpret the data and the decision-making processes they employ to arrive at a clinical decision including a systematic approach versus non-systematic approach. Conclusions Students vary in their focus and the cognitive strategies used to interpret AMS cases. Findings support the notion that clinical reasoning and decision-making should be explicitly taught in pharmacy curricula, in order to help students become aware of their own cognitive processes and decision-making abilities.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03542-0Antimicrobial StewardshipPharmacy educationClinical reasoningThink-aloudQualitative research |
| spellingShingle | Ziad G. Nasr Diala Al Haj Moustafa Sara Dahmani Kyle J. Wilby Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases BMC Medical Education Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacy education Clinical reasoning Think-aloud Qualitative research |
| title | Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| title_full | Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| title_fullStr | Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| title_short | Investigating pharmacy students’ therapeutic decision-making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| title_sort | investigating pharmacy students therapeutic decision making with respect to antimicrobial stewardship cases |
| topic | Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacy education Clinical reasoning Think-aloud Qualitative research |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03542-0 |
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