This course on antimicrobial stewardship will strengthen the capacity of EU and EEA countries regarding healthcare-associated infections (HAI) due to multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDRO) in acute care settings and promote the implementation of appropriate measures. The course is designed as a non-moderated, self-paced course, i.e. participants can decide when to start it, interrupt and come back to continue at any time.
Duration: 1 hour of learning time.
Audience: The target audience for this course is healthcare professionals from EU/EEA member states with current or future responsibility for the prevention and control of HAIs working at national or local level. Typically, these are mid-career professionals involved in infection control programmes to prevent HAIs at hospital level, including infection control/hospital hygiene practitioners, hospital physicians and specialist physicians, hospital epidemiologists, clinical microbiologists, and public health microbiologists.
Objective: On completing the course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the challenges related to antibiotic prescription, the burden of anti-microbial resistance (AMR), and the principles of antibiotic stewardship;
- Identify guidelines for the treatment of specific conditions and formularies, both at the national and local level;
- Understand the implementation of antibiotic policies;
- Understand the measurement of drug usage and the prescribing indicators in relation to structure, process, and outcomes;
- Identify drug usage over time and interpret prescribing surveillance data;
- Understand the elements and performance measurement for an antimicrobial stewardship program (AMS);
- Identify interventions to improve antibiotic prescribing practices for hospitalised patients and measure intervention effect, barriers, and possible solutions.
Participation: This course is open for public enrolment.