Antimicrobial Resistance
Summary
The issue of antimicrobial resistance has been a concern for most of the medical professionals, including nurses. These include both students, practising nurses and other health care professionals. There has been a misconstrued public perception about the use of antibiotics that has led to fatal results like death. These issues have prompted campaigns by the health professionals to seek further clarification of the main policy in the UK on antibiotics, what antimicrobial is and the measures that future nurses can take to enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics. The policy has been analysed in-depth, and its impact on the health sector of the UK. The use of antibiotics has also been highlighted.
Improper use of antibiotics has led to increased resistance by the viruses, bacteria, among other pathogens to react accordingly to antibiotics that were initially helpful in combating them. People are no longer getting better after using antibiotics. Some patients are dying after using the antibiotics because the drugs are no longer effective in their bodies and some of these drugs are even poisonous. The focus of this discussion is to analyse what antimicrobial are and the impact of using antibiotics over the years. The larger population needs to understand the emerging trend in the use of antibiotics and avoid the bad practices that are making them not effective in dealing with the disease-causing pathogens like bacteria and viruses, among others. Nurses and other health professionals should be on the frontline in sensitising the masses on the UK’s plan.
Introduction.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has gained prominence in the medical world, raising a lot of concern among medical professionals. This resistance has been instigated by the improper use of antibiotics by many people across the globe and the ineffectiveness of the available microbial (Marston et al., 2016). It is a global public health concern because it is nullifying the importance of antibiotics in handling some of the diseases. Antimicrobial resistance is taking place in most of the locations of the world, raising even greater concern. Issues like multidrug-resistant microorganisms’ infections are on the rise. These infections have led to an increase in complications, increased admission rate in hospitals, higher cost of healthcare and increased death rates. Workers in their different stations register reduced or loss of productivity because of the effects of misappropriation of antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance is when the activity of antimicrobials like antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarial is stopped by microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and some parasites. These microorganisms end up working against the drugs rendering them ineffective. These aspects make some of the standard ways of treating ailments ineffective, and these infections persist, and they can even spread to other persons. Reports around the globe indicate that almost 700000 deaths in the world take place each year due to antimicrobial resistance.
This issue must be addressed adequately to reduce the number of deaths and complications caused by this condition. This paper will analyse the measures that nurses are taking to address it and maintain the effective use of antibiotics across the globe.
Antimicrobial Resistance as a Public Health Concern
Antimicrobial resistance happens when disease-causing pathogens like parasites, bacteria, fungi and viruses do not respond to antimicrobial drugs like antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarial and anthelmintic, among others. These resistant antimicrobial are at times referred to as superbugs (Hardy-Holbrook et al., 2013). This resistance results in the ineffectiveness of the medicines causing the infections to persist in the body, thus posing the risk of many people becoming infected.
The antimicrobial resistance issue is both public health and global concern. Most of the medical professionals and scientists have delved into this issue, trying to find a solution to the problem (World Health organisation, 2014). It is estimated that ten million people will have died by the year 2050 owing to the effects of microbial resistance. No new antibiotics have been invented since 1980, yet the available ones have become less effective over time (O’Horo and Tande, 2019). The ineffectiveness of the current antibiotics is attributed to their long term use and the antimicrobial resistance.
The general population has an ingrained belief that antibiotics can primarily treat all kinds of ailments. This perception leads to their overuse rendering them very ineffective (Shallcross and Davies, 2014). New resistance strategies are developing and spreading very fast hampering the work of nurses to treat common infectious diseases translating to persistent illness, disability and an increase in the mortality rate (Holmes et al., 2016). Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to the prevention and treatment of infections, the success of complex procedures like organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, management of diabetes and serious surgeries like caesarean sections and hip replacements among others. Antimicrobial resistance has increased the level of morbidity, with more extended stays in hospitals translating into higher costs of treating ailments (Smith and Coast, 2013). The success of the Millennium Development Goals is watered by antimicrobial resistance, while the actualisation of the Sustainable Goals is put at risk.
UK 5-year Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance has been a significant concern to most of the countries in the world with the United Kingdom coming up with a five-year plan to help in dealing with this issue. The initial (2013-2018) plan saw a reduction in the use of antibiotics in both humans and livestock, increased investment in research and enhanced global awareness (Woolhouse et al., 2015). However, despite the success of this plan, the rate of antimicrobial resistance continued rising in the UK and also globally (Kessel and Sharland, 2013). The new five-year plan (2019-2024) is set to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance in the UK and the world based on the progress made by the initial plan.
The new plan is based on three vital objectives, including minimising the need for and unintentional exposure to antimicrobials; enhancing the use of antimicrobials and investing in innovation, supply and access. Other goals set out in the plan included reducing the number of healthcare-associated Gram-negative bloodstream infections, by 2025 the number of specific drug-resistant infections in people to have decreased by 10%, 15% reduction in UK antimicrobial use by people by 2024, 25% reduction in UK antibiotic use in food-producing animals by 2020, stipulate new objectives for 2025. They can report on the dosage supported by a diagnostic test or decision support tool by 2024. This five-year plan is aimed at enhancing progress towards the twenty-year vision on antimicrobial resistance of managing and containing antimicrobial resistance by 2040. The second policy paper highlights the contribution of the UK to the world in managing the antimicrobial resistance menace (Roca et al., 2015). The measures will include minimising the burden of infection among people, enhancing the treatment of resistant infections, optimal use of microbial, coming up with new diagnostics, antimicrobial therapies and vaccines.
Role of Nurses in the Implementation of the Five-Year Action Plan.
Medical professionals, especially the nurses, play a vital role in the implementation of this plan because they interact more with the patients and members of the community. Nurses can help deal with the antimicrobial issue by ensuring that they prescribe the right drug for their patients (Ladenheim, Rosembert, Hallam and Micallet, 2013). The wrong prescription is a factor contributing to antimicrobial resistance. They should enlighten the patients and their caregivers on issues about antimicrobial resistance and how to mitigate it (Shallcross et al., 2015). Nurses should also enlighten their colleagues on this issue and forge a united front of dealing with the effects of antimicrobial resistance.
Nurses should take on a holistic approach in how they treat their patients and their strategies of minimising the risk of antimicrobial resistance. They can organise for training programs and campaigns where they train the larger population on the issues of antimicrobial resistance (Whittaker et al., 2019), and (Puleini and Gyssens, 2013). They should also campaign against illegal and incorrect practices by some of their colleagues that enhance antimicrobial resistance (World Health Organisation, 2018)
Conclusion and Recommendation
The UK five-year action has viable action plans for addressing the issue of antimicrobial resistance. Countries across the globe should adopt it as it will help them make strides in this fight. Nurses should be at the forefront of addressing the issue of antimicrobial resistance because they interact more with the affected patients, their caregivers and society at large. Organising training and programs to enlighten the community on this problem will help in mitigating some of the adverse effects of antimicrobial resistance. The nurses can curb this issue by administering the correct dosage of antibiotics to their patients and encouraging their caregivers to ensure that they strictly adhere to it.
Antimicrobial resistance is a worldwide concern that has had adverse effects on the lives of people, including adverse morbidity and mortality rate, challenges while handling complex surgeries and in the treatment of various infections. These challenges are attributed to resistance of disease-causing organisms to the available antimicrobials and lack of new antibiotics.
The UK implemented a five-year policy aimed at reducing and preventing antimicrobial resistance. This plan aims at enlightening and advising medical professionals working in the community and health institutions. Community-based nurses should ensure that they adhere to set guidelines that reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in patients. The community should be empowered with the preventative measures that will ensure that the health of the affected patients is well maintained.
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