The Role of the Nurse Practitioner and Asymptomatic Urinary Treatments

• Asymptomatic urinary tract infections (aUTIs) are common among older adults.
• Studies show that aUTIs are inappropriately treated with antibiotics.
• We describe aUTI treatments before and after hiring a nurse practitioner (NP).
• Hiring an NP resulted in significantly more supportive treatments for aUTIs.
• Antibiotic treatments for aUTIs did not change significantly after hiring an NP.

Asymptomatic urinary tract infections (aUTIs) are common among older adults in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and studies have shown that they are inappropriately treated with antibiotics. We retrospectively characterized treatment strategies among 89 cases of aUTIs before and after a long-term facility hired a full-time nurse practitioner (NP). We found that residents with aUTIs were prescribed significantly more supportive treatment strategies after hiring an NP. However, there was no significant drop in the rate of inappropriate antibiotic treatments for aUTIs after hiring an NP.