I took my dad to his cardiology appointment last week and as we were discussing aortic valve surgery my dad looks at the doctor and says:

Dad:      “You need to give me an antibiotic.”

Doctor: “Why? What do you need an antibiotic for?”

Dad:      “Because I’m stuffed up and I have the flu.”

Doctor: “Well, let me tell you why I’m not giving you an antibiotic.”

He then went into a lengthy discussion regarding antibiotic stewardship, superbugs, etc., smiled, placed a caring hand on my dad’s shoulder and said, “And you don’t have the flu!”

Imagine my surprise! Here we were in an acute care setting where antibiotics are used pretty freely and we have a physician who “gets it”! I told him how impressed I was and continued to explain to my dad all the reasons the doctor was right. Of course, he is still looking for an antibiotic for his “flu” but hasn’t found anyone to give him one yet!

Families are not aware of the repercussions of the overutilization of antibiotics. Click To Tweet

We all know that families are not aware of the repercussions of the overutilization of antibiotics, however, we certainly are. It is our responsibility to educate our patients and families and train our staff and stay the course. Caring for the Ages had an interesting article related to this in their January/February 2020 edition. You should take a moment to read it.