Archive for December, 2010
Posted by James
INTRODUCTION
Infections with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria result in increased patient morbidity and mortality, and extra costs to the health care system. There is mounting evidence to suggest an association between antimicrobial use in hospitals and antimicrobial resistance. Fluoroquinolones are useful in the treatment of a variety of infections. Unfortunately, these drugs are sometimes used inappropriately, and these uses may contribute to increasing bacterial resistance and drug expendi- tures. Many hospitals have implemented policies and programs to limit and monitor inappropriate use. The effect of such policies on fluoroquinolone use across the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, is unknown.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by James
Antibiotics were being administered in a timely manner before the educational intervention, but this practice showed some improvement after the intervention. The data describing an improvement in de-escalation of therapy were limited by the small number of patients who were eligible for de-escalation.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by James
The results of the study reported here indicate that the management of ventilator-associated management improved in a number of ways after the educational intervention, although only the clinically appropriate selection and dosing of antibiotics reached statistical significance. Previous studies have also demonstrated the effectiveness of educational interventions. Serisier and others8 found that a simple, inexpensive educational intervention was associated with significant improvements in the hospital management of community-acquired pneumonia, specifically in terms of 2 end points that had been shown to influence outcomes: median time to IV administration of antibiotics and rate of prescription of macrolide antibiotics.
Read the rest of this entry »