CDC Recommends All Nursing Homes Implement Core Elements to Improve Antibiotic Use

CDC Recommends All Nursing Homes Improve Antibiotic Use

New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise all nursing homes to improve antibiotic prescribing practices and reduce their inappropriate use to protect residents from the consequences of antibiotic-resistant infections, such as C. difficile.

To guide these improvements, CDC released a new resource:Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes. The Core Elements for Nursing Homes expand upon CDC’s recommendation last year that all acute care hospitals implement an antibiotic stewardship program designed to optimize treatment of infections while reducing adverse events associated with antibiotic use.

Additionally, fact sheets and an infographic on antibiotic use in nursing homes have been developed for nursing home administrators, medical leaders, residents and families. Five fact sheets and one infographic have been developed:

• Creating a Culture to Improve Antibiotic Use in Nursing Homes (for administrators)
• Leading Antibiotic Stewardship in Nursing Homes (for medical leaders)
• What You Need to Know About Antibiotics in a Nursing Home (for consumers)
• What to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Antibiotics (for consumers)
• Top 10 Infection Prevention Questions to Ask a Nursing Home’s Leaders (for consumers)
• Antibiotic Stewardship in Nursing Homes (for all audiences)

A blog post on CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog authored by Nimalie Stone, MD, medical epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, also discusses how CDC can support nursing home efforts to improve antibiotic use.

Learn more about antibiotic use and long-term care at http://www.cdc.gov/longtermcare/index.html?s_cid=ncezid-dhqp-ltc-001.