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Article
The Ethical Challenges of Antimicrobial Resistance for Nurse Practitioners
Nursing Open
  • Sarah Oerther
  • Daniel B. Oerther, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most challenging worldwide health threats facing modern medicine (Centers for Disease Control, 2018; Logan & Bonomo, 2016; World Health Organization, 2018; Zerr et al., 2014). According to the World Health Organization (2018), when antimicrobial drugs are no longer effective at killing infections caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses, this is called AMR. AMR leads to drug-resistant infections (World Health Organization, 2018). Nurse practitioners need to be leaders in mitigating risks associated with antimicrobial use, including ethical dilemmas surrounding AMR (Centers for Disease Control, 2018; Logan & Bonomo, 2016; World Health Organization, 2018; Zerr et al., 2014). For instance, prescribing antimicrobial drugs represents an ethical dilemma for nurse practitioners, since the health needs of individual patients must to be balanced against preservation of effective antimicrobial therapies and concerns for long-term prevention of AMR in communities (Basu & Garg, 2018; Johnstone, 2016).

Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Document Type
Editorial
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2020 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
7-1-2020
Publication Date
01 Jul 2020
Citation Information
Sarah Oerther and Daniel B. Oerther. "The Ethical Challenges of Antimicrobial Resistance for Nurse Practitioners" Nursing Open Vol. 7 Iss. 4 (2020) p. 904 - 906 ISSN: 2054-1058
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/daniel_oerther/126/