Fig. 2

Flowchart of a care pathway in clinical diagnosis and antibiotic initiation of male pneumonia patient. Illustration of the male patient antibiotic initiation data based on direct observation of the process from patient arrival on the assessment area to the time the first dose of antibiotic was given. The observation took 4 h 17 min. Using the relevant symbols; the map shows the actors, actions/ tasks and decisions at each step of the process.Major action steps of the process are highlighted namely assessment, triaging, first review, waiting, second review, blood culture, assessment and recording, and antibiotic initiation. It took 3 h 59 min from the time the antibiotic was prescribed to the time it was given. The potential source of delay in antibiotic initiation was waiting time as shownby the relevant delay symbol. Mapping identified both potential factors that could have influenced timely antibiotic initiation and barriers to timely antibiotic initiation