Combating the Emergence and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week is being held November 18-24, 2019 to raise awareness about antibiotic resistance and encourage the use of best practices to reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. While antibiotics are foundational to modern medicine, their overuse and misuse can lead to the spread of germs that are resistant to antibiotics, or multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Because antibiotics will not work or are less effective on MDROs, they can be very difficult to treat.
There are steps we can all take to improve how we use antibiotics to help combat antibiotic resistance. Find educational resources for a variety of care settings on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website as a part of their year-round effort to address this issue: Be Antibiotics Aware: Smart Use, Best Care.
There are also other best practices measures that healthcare workers can take, such as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), like gloves, masks, and gowns, to help protect patients and themselves from harm caused by the preventable spread of MDROs. PPE is the first line of defense in protecting healthcare workers and patients from contamination and the spread of infection. However, PPE only works when best practice procedures are followed to put it on and take it off. A recently published clinical study, Impact of doffing errors on healthcare worker self-contamination when caring for patients on contact precautions, found that 36% of healthcare workers that cared for a patient with an MDRO were contaminated with the MDRO after removing their PPE.
In its infection control and assessment tools, the CDC identifies basic elements of an infection prevention program that are designed to prevent the spread of infection in healthcare settings. Included among these elements is routine auditing of PPE processes to ensure best practices are consistently used. Routine auditing of PPE procedures was identified as an area in need of improvement in Oregon long-term care facilities during assessments conducted by OPSC between 2015-2019 as a part of a CDC grant with the Oregon Health Authority. Ensuring the right safety procedures are in place and consistent use is critical to preventing the spread of infection, like MDROs.
Tools and Resources
Help combat antibiotic resistance, encourage appropriate use of antibiotics, and protect patients and healthcare workers from the preventable spread of infections like MDROs.
Antibiotic Stewardship Acute Care Hospital Toolkit
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week Resources and Information
CDC
Protecting Healthcare Personnel: Guidance for the Selection and Use of PPE in Healthcare Settings
CDC
Oregon Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (AWARE)
Oregon Health Authority
Oregon HAI Prevention Network Webinars Series
(Note: For the long-term care setting, includes a webinar on effective PPE use)
Oregon Patient Safety Commission
Infection Prevention Training Videos on YouTube
Oregon Patient Safety Commission