91. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Antibiotic Prescribing among Nurse Practitioners

Abstract Background Antibiotic overuse (AO) in ambulatory care is an important public health problem. Nurse practitioners (NPs) account for a growing proportion of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions: 14.6% in 2016. Our objective was to assess NPs’ attitudes about antibiotic prescribing practices and knowledge and use of antibiotic prescribing guidelines (APG) in their practice. Methods We distributed a survey via email to NPs listed as licensed by the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Surveys were distributed three times; duplicate responses were not permitted. Respondents who reported not prescribing antibiotics in the outpatient setting were ineligible. Three randomly selected respondents received gift cards. Questions assessed degree type, practice type, years in practice, and attitudes about antibiotic prescribing practices antibiotic stewardship. Respondents answered four questions assessing knowledge of APG. Analyses were descriptive; scores on knowledge questions were compared using T-tests. Results Survey requests were sent to 10,094 listed NPs; there were 846 completed responses (8.4%), of which 672 respondents (79.4%) reported prescribing antibiotics in outpatient care. Of those, 595 (88.5%) treat adult patients. Most respondents agreed that AO is a problem in their state (84.5%); 41.3% agreed that it was a problem in their practice. Patient/family satisfaction was the most frequently reported driver of AO (90.1%). Most respondents agreed that national APG are appropriate (95.4%) and that quality improvement (QI) is warranted (93.4%). Respondents reported following APG always (18.5%) or more than half the time (61.0%). Respondents answered a mean of 1.89 out of 4 knowledge questions correctly, with higher scores among those reporting following APG more than half the time (1.97 vs 1.58, p< 0.0001). Overall attitudes about antibiotic prescribing, antibiotic prescribing guidelines, and acceptance of Quality Improvement. N=595. Respondents’ reported drivers of antibiotic overuse. Respondents were permitted to select more than one driver. Content question performance by self-reported guideline compliance; scores represent the number correct out of four questions. Conclusion Respondents agree that AO is a problem but place responsibility externally. Confidence in APG was high; most respondents endorsed following APG most of the time. Performance on knowledge questions suggests a need for education. Most respondents would welcome QI focused on AO, including education and personalized feedback. Similar work is needed in other regions and among other prescriber groups. The results will inform outpatient antibiotic stewardship. Disclosures Elizabeth Walters, DNP, CPNP-PC, RN, Merck (Consultant, Other Financial or Material Support, I am a trainer for the Nexplanon product.) Ravi Jhaveri, MD, AstraZeneca (Consultant)Dynavax (Consultant)Elsevier (Other Financial or Material Support, Editorial Stipend as Co-editor in Chief, Clinical Therapeutics)Seqirus (Consultant)


Deimplementation: Use of Electronic Clinical Decision Support to Reduce Unnecessary Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Ordering
Yasaman Fatemi, MD 1 ; Julianne Burns, MD, MSCE 1 ; Tracey Polsky, MD, PhD 1 ; Ellen Nord, MPH 1 ; Susan Coffin, MD, MPH 1 ; 1 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Session: P-05. Antimicrobial Stewardship: Diagnostics/Diagnostic Stewardship Background. In recent years, several de-implementation initiatives have focused on diagnostic testing. One such initiative, the Choosing Wisely campaign, recommends against routine use of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for assessment of acute undiagnosed inflammation or infection. With the development of newer biomarkers of inflammation, particularly C-reactive protein (CRP), there is a decreasing role for ESR in screening for acute-onset conditions; however, ESR continues to be commonly ordered.
Methods. We examined ESR and CRP ordering practices at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) from July 2019 to July 2020 and found that 80% of ESR orders were placed concurrently with an order for CRP. We aimed to reduce ESR ordering by 20% at CHOP by using electronic clinical decision support in the form of embedded order guidance for ESR orders placed in the Emergency Department (ED) and inpatient setting. We examined the effect of the clinical decision support by assessing ESR ordering rate, defined by ESR orders per monthly patient days for the inpatient setting and ESR orders per monthly ED visits for the ED setting. We then examined differences in ordering rates using a quasi-experimental model with a concurrent control (basic metabolic panel).

ESR Electronic Clinical Decision Support Intervention
Inpatient and ED versions of the embedded electronic clinical decision support for ESR orders.
Results. Prior to implementation of the electronic decision support intervention, the median monthly rate of ESR orders was 13.6 per 1000 patient days and 70.3 per 1000 ED visits. During the initial month after implementation, we found that ESR ordering was 12.5 in inpatient and 46.4 in ED, reflecting decreased rates of ordering. The median monthly rate of basic metabolic panel orders (concurrent control) was 194.5 per 1000 patient days and 110.0 per 1000 ED visits. This was unchanged after intervention.
Conclusion. We conclude that electronic clinical decision support is a potentially effective deimplementation method for improving diagnostic test utilization, even with non-disease specific testing such as inflammatory markers. However, continued post-implementation data monitoring and analysis is needed to determine if this is a true difference and sustainable trend.
Disclosures. Background. Antibiotic overuse (AO) in ambulatory care is an important public health problem. Nurse practitioners (NPs) account for a growing proportion of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions: 14.6% in 2016. Our objective was to assess NPs' attitudes about antibiotic prescribing practices and knowledge and use of antibiotic prescribing guidelines (APG) in their practice.
Methods. We distributed a survey via email to NPs listed as licensed by the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Surveys were distributed three times; duplicate responses were not permitted. Respondents who reported not prescribing antibiotics in the outpatient setting were ineligible. Three randomly selected respondents received gift cards. Questions assessed degree type, practice type, years in practice, and attitudes about antibiotic prescribing practices antibiotic stewardship. Respondents answered four questions assessing knowledge of APG. Analyses were descriptive; scores on knowledge questions were compared using T-tests.
Results. Survey requests were sent to 10,094 listed NPs; there were 846 completed responses (8.4%), of which 672 respondents (79.4%) reported prescribing antibiotics in outpatient care. Of those, 595 (88.5%) treat adult patients. Most respondents agreed that AO is a problem in their state (84.5%); 41.3% agreed that it was a problem in their practice. Patient/family satisfaction was the most frequently reported driver of AO (90.1%). Most respondents agreed that national APG are appropriate (95.4%) and that quality improvement (QI) is warranted (93.4%). Respondents reported following APG always (18.5%) or more than half the time (61.0%). Respondents answered a mean of 1.89 out of 4 knowledge questions correctly, with higher scores among those reporting following APG more than half the time (1.97 vs 1.58, p< 0.0001).
Overall attitudes about antibiotic prescribing, antibiotic prescribing guidelines, and acceptance of Quality Improvement. N=595.
Respondents' reported drivers of antibiotic overuse. Respondents were permitted to select more than one driver. Content question performance by self-reported guideline compliance; scores represent the number correct out of four questions.
Conclusion. Respondents agree that AO is a problem but place responsibility externally. Confidence in APG was high; most respondents endorsed following APG most of the time. Performance on knowledge questions suggests a need for education. Most respondents would welcome QI focused on AO, including education and personalized feedback. Similar work is needed in other regions and among other prescriber groups. The results will inform outpatient antibiotic stewardship. Background. Patients who develop prosthetic joint infections (PJI) may be prescribed chronic antibiotic suppression (CAS) ( > 6 months of antibiotics) after initial antibiotic treatment for the PJI. Patients at low risk of recurrent infection may be good targets for antibiotic stewardship. De-implementation of CAS could potentially reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistant organisms and decrease antibiotic-associated adverse events. Our ongoing study aims to characterize clinical decision-making processes about CAS prescribing and identify points for antibiotic stewardship interventions to stop CAS prescribing for patients who will not benefit.

Disclosures. Elizabeth Walters
Methods. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 physicians and nurses at 8 Veterans Affairs hospitals, chosen for variation in hospital size, complexity, region, and CAS prescribing. Interviewees included orthopedic surgeons, infectious disease (ID) physicians, hospital epidemiologists, nurses, nurse managers, and primary care physicians (PCPs). We conducted inductive, consensus-based thematic analysis on interview transcripts, using the program MAXQDA.
Results. Participants reported a complex decision-making process that included a range of collaborative approaches with other clinicians and patients. Their risk-benefit calculation for CAS usually included the type of revision surgery performed, the evidence base, the organism, and patient factors. Surgeons and ID physicians, the primary CAS prescribers, collaborated variably and sometimes consulted pharmacists or antibiotic stewards. Participants emphasized the importance of clinician autonomy and buy-in to order to effect practice change based on evidence, rather than top-down policies. They identified other significant time points that occurred before or after the CAS prescribing decision (initial PJI treatment decisions, follow-up appointments) and identified other decision makers about CAS maintenance (e.g., patients, PCPs). (See Figure 1).