Argue Stewardship

Use culture and antibiotic evidence to argue stewardship.

Builds on (2 levels back)inferred · high confidence

Aseptic culture technique: Culture results need uncontaminated samples.
Antibiotic selection pressure: Drug exposure can favor resistant bacteria.

Prerequisites are inferred: pending teacher review.

Re-learn the skill with worked practice and clear examples.

Build a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning argument for NOT prescribing antibiotics in a viral case.

Step 1: Read the CER table

Each row is one part of the argument with an example for a viral illness.

CER part	What it does	Example for this case
Claim	states your decision	Do NOT prescribe an antibiotic
Evidence	the facts you observed	The illness is a virus (negative bacterial culture, runny nose, no bacterial signs)
Reasoning	links evidence to claim	Antibiotics only kill bacteria, and overuse breeds resistance

Step 2: Pick the strongest evidence

The best evidence shows the cause is viral, such as a negative bacterial culture and no bacterial signs.

Step 3: Write the reasoning

Explain that antibiotics kill only bacteria and that overuse breeds resistance, so the drug would not help and could cause harm.

Practice

A patient has a runny-nose cold, a NEGATIVE bacterial culture, and demands antibiotics. Which choice is the strongest EVIDENCE for the claim 'do not prescribe an antibiotic'?

Reviewed

CER part	What it does	Example for this case
Claim	states your decision	Do NOT prescribe an antibiotic
Evidence	the facts you observed	The illness is a virus (negative bacterial culture, runny nose, no bacterial signs)
Reasoning	links evidence to claim	Antibiotics only kill bacteria, and overuse breeds resistance

A.The bacterial culture came back negative, showing the cause is not bacterial
B.The patient strongly wants the medicine
C.Antibiotics are sometimes expensive
D.The waiting room is busy today

Show the worked solution ▾

Answer: A. The bacterial culture came back negative, showing the cause is not bacterial

Step 1: Find the claim: Claim: do not prescribe an antibiotic.
Step 2: Pick evidence that supports it: A negative bacterial culture shows there are no bacteria to kill.

Why it's right: A negative bacterial culture is direct evidence that the cause is viral, so an antibiotic would not help.

Why the others miss:

B: What the patient wants is not scientific evidence about the cause.
C: Cost is a side issue, not evidence the illness is viral.
D: Clinic busyness is irrelevant to the diagnosis.

Aligned to Culturing · reading level ~grade 9

Where you'd see this

In Unit 1.2 Antibiotic Treatment, this skill turns class evidence into a result another person can check.

Careers that use this

Microbiologist: Uses argue stewardship to make a decision from evidence without overclaiming.

Video library

Watch: Argue Stewardship

How can we solve the antibiotic resistance crisis? - Gerry Wright

TED-Ed · ~5 min

Guided notes

Fill these in as you work through the lesson.

Big idea: Antibiotic stewardship means backing a 'no antibiotic' decision with a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning argument.

Key terms: write the meaning

Claim (the ____ you are arguing for (e.g., do not prescribe)):
Evidence (the ____ that support the claim, like a negative bacterial culture):
Reasoning (the sentences that ____ the evidence to the claim):
Stewardship (using antibiotics only when ____ so resistance does not spread):

The rule

For a viral illness, the claim is 'do not ,' the evidence shows the cause is , and the reasoning is that antibiotics kill only bacteria.

Check yourself

What is the claim in an antibiotic-stewardship argument for a cold?
Which piece of evidence shows the cause is viral, not bacterial?
What reasoning links viral evidence to the no-antibiotic claim?

Work one example

A patient with a viral sore throat (negative strep test) demands antibiotics. Write a full C-E-R: state the claim, give one piece of evidence, and write the reasoning that uses the resistance idea.