Ms. Christina Morvell1
1Grampians Health, Horsham, Australia
Biography:
Christina is an experienced Infection control coordinator of 20 years. She has worked in several regional and rural health services. Holds post graduate qualifications in Infection Control, Critical care, Redesign and Innovation. She is currently the Infection Prevention and Control Team Lead at Grampians Health Horsham and Dimboola.
Abstract:
To achieve an effective AMS program, Grampians Health Horsham endorsed an Antimicrobial Approval Procedure, inclusive of a site specific Antimicrobial approval form and consumer information. All available on the health service’s policy platform PROMPT.
With limited resources we put together an AMS team consisting of an Infection Prevention and Control (IPaC) nurse, a lead doctor and a pharmacist. The team undertake weekly rounds documenting at point of care on the Approval form to communicate with the treating medical staff. The round results are recorded on the publicly available Quality Improvement software offered by the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS). Thus, utilizing a validated tool at no cost to collate data and present reports to the treating teams. Consumers are also provided with handout material if appropriate.
The rounds address six core criteria; documentation of indication, review or stop date documented, guidelines compliance, approval compliance, assessment of IV antimicrobials, (including IV to oral de-escalation), and any recommendations for antimicrobial adjustment. The IPaC nurse then will follow up any prescriptions corrected within 24 hours of the AMS round based on recommendations made, using the Approval form.
As medical staff regularly rotate, the data is provided in a month-to-month compliance report. This being timely, relevant, and based on the current medical staffs’ prescribing practices.
Our ReSTART approach sharing data with prescribers and involving consumers is timely, cost effective and has demonstrated a sustained compliance improvement and ongoing promotion of best AMS practices. A workable process, easily replicable.