Roles and Role Ambiguity in Patient- and Caregiver-Performed Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy

Complicated medical therapies traditionally performed in acute care hospitals are increasingly moving to the home, requiring patients and informal caregivers to perform complicated medical tasks. For example, in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), patients and caregivers perform antimicrobial infusions and venous catheter care. The objective of this study was to characterize patient understanding of patient, caregiver, and health care worker roles in OPAT and barriers to fulfilling these roles, with the goal of understanding how to best support patients and their caregivers.

Keller SC, Cosgrove SE, Arbaje AJ, Chang RH, Krosche A, Williams D, Gurses AP, Roles and Role Ambiguity in Patient- and Caregiver-Performed Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Volume 45, Issue 11, 2019, 763-771. doi:10.1016/j.jcjq.2019.07.003