Pediatric Ear Infections: Amoxicillin Use, Dosage, and Side Effects

This report provides a comprehensive overview of amoxicillin's use in treating pediatric ear infections, focusing on patient education and evidence-based practice. The report begins with a patient education tool, detailing the appropriate use of amoxicillin, recommended dosages (125 mg three times daily for a 10-day course), and factors affecting its efficacy, such as age. It outlines potential side effects, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, and allergic reactions, as well as storage, handling, and disposal guidelines. The second part of the report delves into evidence-based practice, emphasizing the importance of practice standards for nurses and midwives to prevent medication errors. It highlights the role of communication, medication history, and cultural competence in ensuring patient safety and effective drug therapy. Educational tools, such as those outlining medication names, purposes, dosages, and side effects, are discussed as crucial for patient adherence. The report also examines the role of clinical pharmacologists and communication systems like Pyxis in preventing medication errors and improving patient outcomes. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of healthcare professionals being well-versed in medication management standards and providing culturally competent care to ensure patient safety and favorable outcomes. The report references various sources to support its findings.

Running head: AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

1AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Part 1: Patient education tool
Appropriate use of medication
Amoxicillin is used for an oral antimicrobial agent for the treatment of acute otitis media
in children (Qureishi et al., 2014). Amoxicillin is recommended at a dose of 125 mg, three times
a day to be given to children suffering from otitis media. A 10 day course is prescribed to
children and is considered the optimal duration (Chu et al., 2014; Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2018).
Factors affecting efficacy
According to the FDA, amoxicillin efficacy is usually higher in children aged greater
than 2 years than children who are less than 2 years of age. The antibiotic is effective if given for
10 days duration in children, who are less than 2 years of age suffering from acute otitis media,
while 5 days treatment is effective for children aged 2 years or above (Fda.gov, 2018).
Side effects or chemical interactions
Abdominal pain, heartburn, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, rash, bleeding, allergic reactions.
Some of the rare but serious side effects include anaphylaxis, seizures, thrombocytopenia,
hepatitis, among others. Small amounts of amoxicillin present in breast milk can cause diarrhea
or any other form of allergic reactions in nursing infants (Pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2018;
Haveles, 2014).
Storage, handling and disposal
It should be stored in an air tight container, out of reach of children, storage at room
temperature away from excess moisture and heat. Liquids to be kept in refrigerator and should
not be freezed. Medication to be disposed after 14 days (Accessdata.fda.gov, 2018).

2AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Part 2: Evidence based practice
The practice standards for nurses and midwives ensure that there are no medication errors
with respect to prescriptions that involve the use of medications that have the potential to
interact, documentation of the prescribing process and outcomes and safe as well as an effective
prescribing practice that in turn will lead to enhanced patient outcomes and prevent the
occurrence of adverse events. Practice standard 2 involves the role of communication and
medication history taking for safe and effective prescribing of medications in order to prevent
any adverse outcomes. Knowledge of medicinal products is also essential in order to ensure safe
management of medication by the prescribing authority. The registered nurse is required to have
a good understanding of the efficacy of the medication being provided and whether it has any
possible side effects or interacts with other drugs. A comprehensive documentation of
medication history is also essential in order to ensure that prescribing errors are minimized with
respect to patient allergies to certain drugs (Nmbi.ie, 2018; Nmc.org.uk, 2018).
Educational tools play an important role in promoting effective communication with
respect to drug therapy. Communications of medications is an important method associated with
patient safety and increased quality of care provided to the patients. Educational tools play an
important role in proper communication of the medication to the patient, which results in
effective medication adherence and also helps to improve the patient favorable outcomes.
Educational tools consist of the name of the medicine, purpose of use, dosage and possible side
effects (Lavanya et al., 2016).
Proper prescriptions in the field of pharmacology ensures that medication errors are
prevented thereby ensuring patient safety and quality patient outcomes. Clinical pharmacologists
share a common principle associated with drug therapy and ensures safety and efficacy with

3AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
respect to patient treatments. Medication errors usually result from mistakes during prescribing,
dispensing, administration and labeling of medications. Medication errors usually results in
adverse events, which can even result in death of the patient (Apps.who.int, 2018).
Cultural competence plays an important role in improving the provisions of healthcare
with regards to improving the health needs of the minority populations and other culturally
distinct individuals. Cultural competency ensures that the healthcare providers improve the
quality of care that are meted out to diverse backgrounds and cultures. Quality medical care
ensures that scientific knowledge is combined with effective communication skills that helps to
understand the needs of each patient. A culturally competent medical professional ensures to
elicit information from patients with respect to medical history that enables them to carry out
accurate diagnosis and provide a treatment plan that guarantees favorable outcomes for the
patient (Epner, D. E., & Baile, 2012; Sequeira, 2015). Cultural competence with respect to
patient educational tools involves the use of different languages that would ensure that
individuals belonging to a particular target language can read the informations, thereby resulting
in increased medication adherence and patient safety. Promotion of cultural competence in
healthcare can be carried out by establishing programs for the promotion of minority health,
hiring minority workforces, involving representative from the communities in the treatment
plans, availability of interpreter services, developing health information targeting patients
belonging to different languages and cultural norms. Moreover, the health education tool should
be of an appropriate literacy level that can be understood by all (Commonwealthfund.org, 2018).
Communication tools like the Pyxis medication communication system integrates proven
technology like automated dispensing, control in substance management, packaging, bar code
labeling, management of medication order, automated replenishment, verification of medication

4AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
administration, specimen collection verification and centralized system management. It also
involves the use of ‘integrated analytics solutions’ for monitoring of performance indicators, real
time monitoring to prevent patient harms, active alerts associated with medication errors, support
from clinical experts and practice guidelines. This communication system helps to reduce
medication errors, help to identify the onset of adverse events and thereby prevent its occurrence,
maintain safety of the patient at every step of the treatment plan and decreases the order
processing time of the pharmacists (Oldland et al., 2015).
The role of nurses in the administration of drugs involve informing the patient about the
medication, its uses, purpose and potential side effects. This forms an essential part of patient
rights and the patient also has the right to refuse medications even though it can lead to adverse
consequences. This in turn affects the ability of the nurse to administer medications for the safety
of the patient (Pirinen et al., 2015).
Thus, it can be concluded that healthcare professionals need to be accustomed with the
standards of practice with regards to medication management and also ensure that the patients
are informed about the treatment in a culturally competent manner so that it results in medication
adherence and patient safety resulting in favorable patient outcomes.

5AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Reference List
Accessdata.fda.gov. (2018). Accessdata.fda.gov. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2008/050760s11,050761s11,0507
54s12,050542s25lbl.pdf
Apps.who.int. (2018). Medication Errors. Apps.who.int. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/252274/1/9789241511643-eng.pdf
Chu, C. H., Wang, M. C., Lin, L. Y., Tu, T. Y., Huang, C. Y., Liao, W. H., ... & Shiao, A. S.
(2014). High-dose amoxicillin with clavulanate for the treatment of acute otitis media in
children. The Scientific World Journal, 2014.
Commonwealthfund.org. (2018). Cultural competence in health care: emerging frameworks and
practical approaches. Commonwealthfund.org. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/betancourt_culturalcompetence_576.pdf
Epner, D. E., & Baile, W. F. (2012). Patient-centered care: the key to cultural
competence. Annals of oncology, 23(suppl_3), 33-42.
Fda.gov. (2018). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Fda.gov. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
https://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/01/slides/3719s1_09_marchant.pdf
Haveles, E. B. (2014). Applied Pharmacology for the Dental Hygienist-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.

6AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Lavanya, S. H., Kalpana, L., Veena, R. M., & Kumar, V. B. (2016). Role-play as an educational
tool in medication communication skills: Students’ perspectives. Indian journal of
pharmacology, 48(Suppl 1), S33.
Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. (2018). Management of acute otitis media. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2786953/
Nmbi.ie. (2018). https://www.nmbi.ie/nmbi/media/NMBI/Publications/Practice-Standards-
Prescriptive_Authority.pdf?ext=.pdf. Nmbi.ie. Retrieved 27 January 2018, from
https://www.nmbi.ie/nmbi/media/NMBI/Publications/Practice-Standards-
Prescriptive_Authority.pdf?ext=.pdf
Nmc.org.uk. (2018). Standards for medicines management. Nmc.org.uk. Retrieved 27 January
2018, from https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/standards/nmc-
standards-for-medicines-management.pdf
Oldland, A. R., Golightly, L. K., May, S. K., Barber, G. R., & Stolpman, N. M. (2015).
Electronic inventory systems and barcode technology: impact on pharmacy technical
accuracy and error liability. Hospital pharmacy, 50(1), 034-041.
Pirinen, H., Kauhanen, L., Danielsson-Ojala, R., Lilius, J., Tuominen, I., Díaz Rodríguez, N., &
Salanterä, S. (2015). Registered Nurses’ experiences with the medication administration
process. Advances in Nursing, 2015.
Pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. (2018). 132-98-9. Pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 27 January
2018, from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/131673927#section=Drug-
Warning

7AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS
Qureishi, A., Lee, Y., Belfield, K., Birchall, J. P., & Daniel, M. (2014). Update on otitis media–
prevention and treatment. Infection and drug resistance, 7, 15.
Sequeira, R. P. (2015). Patient safety in medical education: Medication safety
perspectives. Indian journal of pharmacology, 47(2), 135.

8AMOXICILLIN FOR PEDIATRIC EAR INFECTIONS