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MRSA Prevention Toolkit: ICUs & Non-ICUs

Antibiotic Stewardship

Fundamental Best Practices

Antibiotics are life-saving drugs, but a significant amount of antibiotics in hospital settings are prescribed inappropriately, leading to adverse events for patients related to antibiotic therapy. Inappropriate antibiotic use also heightens the risk of multi-drug resistance organisms (MDROs), such as MRSA. Antibiotic stewardship employs evidence-based decision-making to optimize appropriate antibiotic use.

This section provides information about antibiotic stewardship, its association with MRSA prevention, and strategies to optimize antibiotic use. 

Presentations

After reviewing the content of this presentation, viewers will be able to:

  • Understand the goals of antibiotic stewardship.
  • Discuss the association between antibiotic use and MRSA colonization and infection.
  • Describe evidence that antibiotic stewardship can impact risk of MRSA colonization and infection.
  • Identify approaches that a hospital unit can implement to improve antibiotic decision making.

Documents:

Tools & Resources

The AHRQ Toolkit to Improve Antibiotic Use in Acute Care Hospitals was developed to support implementation of antibiotic stewardship practices by stewardship programs and front-line clinicians. The toolkit focuses on three primary goals: (1) Developing and improving an antibiotic stewardship program; (2) Creating a culture of safety around antibiotic prescribing; and (3) Learning and disseminating best practices for the diagnosis and treatment of common infectious disease syndromes.

Highlighted below are two tools from the Toolkit which are particularly relevant to MRSA prevention efforts.

  • Team Antibiotic Review Form
    The Team Antibiotic Review Form facilitates team discussions on antibiotic use between the Antibiotic Stewardship Program and frontline staff. For optimal results, the ASP and frontline teams should meet in person to complete these forms at regular intervals. 
  • Antibiotic Time Out Tool (DOCX)
    The Antibiotic Time Out Tool can be used to facilitate a daily time-out for each patient receiving antibiotics on the unit. The tool asks the prescriber to: (1) Track prescribed antibiotics and treatment day; (2) Record indication for continuing antibiotics; (3) Assess whether antibiotic therapy can be stopped, narrowed, or changed; and (4) Determine duration of therapy.

 

Page last reviewed October 2024
Page originally created October 2024

Internet Citation: Antibiotic Stewardship. Content last reviewed October 2024. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
https://www.ahrq.gov/hai/tools/mrsa-prevention/toolkit/antibiotic-stewardship.html

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