“Get Smart About Antibiotics” Use Hospital Toolkit to Improve Antibiotic Prescribing

“Get Smart About Antibiotics” Use Hospital Toolkit to Improve Antibiotic Prescribing

“Get Smart About Antibiotics” Use Hospital Toolkit to Improve Antibiotic Prescribing

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 11/19/2013 01:30 PM EST

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality supports the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to raise awareness of the proper use of antibiotics through the “Get Smart about Antibiotics Week” campaign. Prescribing and using antibiotics appropriately can help reduce the development of antibiotic resistance and prevent infections such as Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). To help hospitals do this, AHRQ developed the Toolkit for Reduction of Clostridium difficile Infections Through Antimicrobial Stewardship, a step-by-step guide to implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program specifically targeting C. difficile infections.

Get help developing, implementing, and sustaining an antimicrobial stewardship program for C. difficile in your hospital using the AHRQ toolkit: http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/patient-safety-resources/cdifftoolkit/cdiffover.html.

For more information on CDC’s Get Smart about Antibiotics Week, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign-materials/about-campaign.html.