Fig. 3

Flowchart of a care pathway in clinical diagnosis and antibiotic initiation of female pneumonia patient. Illustration of the female 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 7 h 14 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, recording patient data in admission book and antibiotic initiation. It took 3 h 47 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 shown by the relevant delay symbol. Mapping identified both potential factors that could have influenced timely antibiotic initiation such as having different actors (health workers) and barriers (such as waiting)to timely antibiotic initiation