Sticking to minimum standards: Implementing antibiotic stewardship in intensive care

Abstract

Background: In Australia, antimicrobial stewardship programmes are a compulsory component of hospital accreditation. Good documentation around anti-microbial prescribing aids communication and can improve prescribing practice in environments with multiple decision makers. Aim: This study aims to develop and implement an intervention to improve antimicrobial prescribing practice in a 24-bed intensive care unit in a tertiary referral adult hospital. Methods: We conducted a four-phase (observation, reflection, implementation, evaluation) prospective collaborative before-after quality improvement study. Baseline audits and surveys of antimicrobial prescribing practices identified barriers to and..