Create a Culture of Safety Around Antibiotic Prescribing

For information on how the materials below can be integrated into institutional efforts to improve antibiotic use, read the Implementation Guide for Long-Term Care Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (PDF, 402 KB).

Presentations

Improving antibiotic use should be viewed as a patient safety issue. Both frontline staff and prescribing clinicians should be encouraged to understand both the benefits and risks of antibiotic use and be engaged in reducing harm associated with antibiotic use. Reducing harm often requires changes in thinking and behavior.

The five presentations below are designed to help effect change in behaviors around antibiotic prescribing. They discuss how to present antibiotic use as a patient safety issue, improve communication and teamwork around prescribing, identify and address problems around antibiotic prescribing, and motivate appropriate prescribing. All of these presentations are pertinent to both health care practitioners and nursing staff.

Tools

The six tools below are designed to assist the Antibiotic Stewardship Team and frontline providers in creating a safety culture that values appropriate antibiotic prescribing and takes action when harm related to antibiotics is detected. They are designed with the needs of health care practitioners and nursing staff in mind.