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Assignment questions
NursingDiscussion postAntimicrobial stewardship

Drug resistance: other factors and patient education

The prompt has already named over-prescribing, so the first question asks for what else. Agricultural use, incomplete courses and global supply all belong, and none of them is a prescribing decision.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 15, 2026

01

Other factors — the prompt has already named one

The word other is doing the work in the first question: the prompt has already stated that giving antibiotics for mild and viral illness drives resistance, so restating that has answered nothing. Look beyond the consultation. Agricultural and veterinary use accounts for a large share of global antibiotic consumption, much of it for growth promotion and prophylaxis rather than for treating sick animals. Patients not completing courses, or keeping and sharing leftovers, selects for resistance at home. In many countries antibiotics are available without prescription. Poor infection prevention in hospitals spreads resistant organisms that no prescribing decision created. Broad-spectrum agents used where narrow ones would do exert wider selective pressure. And the pipeline matters: almost no new antibiotic classes have reached the market in decades, because the commercial return on a drug you want used as little as possible is poor. That last point is worth including, because it is structural rather than clinical.

The alternatives question should be read as what to do about resistant organisms and about the pressure to prescribe. Clinically: culture and sensitivity to direct therapy rather than guessing, narrow-spectrum agents where they suffice, correct dose and duration since under-dosing selects as effectively as over-prescribing, source control, and reserving last-line agents. Preventively: vaccination, infection control and rapid diagnostics that distinguish viral from bacterial at the point of care. Then the education question, which is where good posts differ. The evidence is that information alone changes little — patients who know antibiotics do not treat viruses still ask — because the consultation is about feeling unwell and wanting something done. So describe what actually works: a specific diagnosis rather than 'just a virus', a named expected duration, a written contingency for when to return, a delayed prescription where appropriate, and treating the patient's concern rather than dismissing it.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

  • 01
    Identify drivers of resistance outside the prescribing consultation.
  • 02
    Distinguish clinical alternatives for resistant organisms from preventive measures.
  • 03
    Explain why patient information alone does not reduce demand.
  • 04
    Describe consultation techniques that reduce unnecessary prescribing.
Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Patients often become frustrated if their primary care practitioner does not give them an antibiotic when they are sick. They often dread those infamous words, “It is just a virus.” Giving an antibiotic for mild infections and viral illnesses leads to drug resistance. What other factors lead to drug resistance? What alternatives are there for diseases that become resistant? How can we help reinforce education to patients about the dangers of drug resistance?
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Diseases that become resistant Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours. Diseases that become resistant

02

Turn the brief into deliverables

  1. 01
    Factors beyond over-prescribing, including agricultural and systemic ones.
  2. 02
    Clinical and preventive alternatives.
  3. 03
    An account of why education alone underperforms.
  4. 04
    Specific consultation strategies.
  5. 05
    APA-formatted citations.
03

Factors, alternatives, then the education problem

01

Drivers outside the consultation

Cover agricultural use, non-completion, over-the-counter access and infection control.

02

Prescribing-related drivers that are not over-prescribing

Address broad-spectrum choice, under-dosing and duration.

03

Clinical alternatives

Give culture-directed therapy, narrow spectrum, source control and reserved agents.

04

Preventive alternatives

Cover vaccination, infection control and rapid diagnostics.

05

What actually reduces demand

Describe naming the diagnosis, expected duration, safety-netting and delayed prescriptions.

04

Sources on resistance and stewardship

Recommended databases

  • World Health Organization antimicrobial resistance resources
  • NCBI Bookshelf (StatPearls)
  • PubMed Central
  • CDC antibiotic stewardship materials

Search sequence

  1. 1.
    Start with a global source, since the agricultural and access drivers are not visible from a clinic.
  2. 2.
    Look for evidence on delayed prescribing, which is the best-supported consultation technique.
  3. 3.
    Search for studies on why patient information campaigns underperform, for the third question.
  4. 4.
    Check current stewardship guidance rather than older material, since recommendations have changed.
05

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

  1. 01

    Antimicrobial resistance

    World Health Organization · 2023

    The global drivers including agricultural use and access, which is what 'other factors' means.

  2. 02

    Infection prevention and control

    World Health Organization · 2024

    Infection control as a resistance measure independent of prescribing.

  3. 03

    Upper Respiratory Tract Infections With Focus on The Common Cold

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023

    The evidence on treating viral upper respiratory illness, which is the consultation at issue.

  4. 04

    Acute Bronchitis

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023

    Acute bronchitis management, the commonest presentation where the pressure to prescribe arises.

06

Review before submission

Common mistakes

  • Restating over-prescribing when the prompt asks for other factors.
  • Omitting agricultural use, which is a large share of global consumption.
  • Treating under-dosing as harmless when it also selects for resistance.
  • Answering the education question with 'explain it better'.
  • Ignoring that the patient's concern is real even when the antibiotic is not indicated.

Submission checklist

  • Are your factors genuinely other than over-prescribing?
  • Have you included agricultural and systemic drivers?
  • Do the alternatives cover both treatment and prevention?
  • Does the education answer go beyond providing information?
  • Are your sources current, since resistance patterns change?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.

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