Antimicrobial Stewardship Program

Considering your clinical role within a health setting, check and see if your organisation has an antimicrobial stewardship program. If so, briefly discuss the program in relation to your organisation and role.

Consider the following:

· Appropriateness to your organisation (eg size, resources, specialist staff, etc.) 66 residents

· The population served by your organisation (eg specific infectious diseases that impact upon the risk profile of the patient population, etc.)

· The reporting and feedback processes

· Your contribution to the program in your current role as an infection prevention and control professional

This is my paper and not sure if it’s good
Our antimicrobial stewardship program (AMS) is simple and practical for our 66 residents. Our aim is to promote optimal use of antimicrobials to maximise treatment effectiveness, improve our resident health outcomes by reducing risks associated with antimicrobial resistance, reviewing antimicrobial use, identify gaps and develop action plan to enhance AMS activities. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical risk to resident safety as it reduces the number of antimicrobials available to treat infections (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2025). Our team consists of registered nurses, our regular pharmacist, infection control lead, general practitioners and our residential manager.
The most common infections in aged care facility are urinary tract infections, wound infections, chest infections, and skin infections (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2023). Around 50 residents in our facility are either diagnosed with dementia or with cognitive impairment therefore rather than displaying typical clinical signs, infections often manifest through sudden change in behaviour or increased confusion or falls. This increases the risk of inappropriate antimicrobial use and emphasises the need for thorough clinical assessment and ongoing monitoring. Hence the importance of having an AMS program in place.

Our Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead conduct monthly audits (such as reviewing infections log, antimicrobial use, and pathology results), monitor compliances and infection trends. Any findings, gaps identified or further educations needed is discussed in our 3rd monthly Multidisciplinary Antimicrobial & Clinical Quality (MACQ) Meetings. Minutes of meetings are then provided to staff and also briefings are conducted during clinical meetings to all our clinical team to drive continuous improvement and further education session is organised if needed.

In my role as a registered nurse, I support the AMS program by ensuring that adequate emergency stock of antimicrobials is maintained on site and that timely access to pharmacy service is available for medications not routinely stocked. I also make sure that residents with suspected infections has correct specimen collected and work with general practitioners to promotes safe microbial use and residents are provided with information on their condition and treatment options in a way that they can understand and ensure that there is communication about the AMS policy to residents and/or their representatives (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2020).

References
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2025). Antimicrobial use in the community: 2024 https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/Antimicrobial-use-in-the-community-2024.pdf

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2020). Antimicrobial stewardship clinical care standard. https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/clinical-care-standards/antimicrobial-stewardship-clinical-care-standard