The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has issued a new Nursing Home Antimicrobial Stewardship Guide. The guide offers step-by-step instructions and materials to help nursing centers improve antibiotic use and decrease harms caused by inappropriate prescribing.  While the guide is designed for nursing centers, DSS representatives flagged this resource for VHCA-VCAL noting its applicability to assisted living facilities.

The guide, which is consistent with CDC core elements of antibiotic stewardship, can also help health care providers meet CMS’ new Infection Prevention and Control Program requirements. That program requires providers to have a system to prevent, identify, report, investigate and control infections and communicable diseases for all facility residents, staff, volunteers and visitors. AHRQ’s stewardship guide, which is customizable to meet facilities’ specific needs, includes four toolkits designed to implement, monitor, and sustain an antimicrobial stewardship program; determine whether it is necessary to treat a potential infection with antibiotics; help prescribing clinicians use an antibiogram to choose the right antibiotic to treat a particular infection; and educate and engage residents and family members.

Access additional AHRQ tools to prevent healthcare-associated infections.