CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog: Using Antibiotic Stewardship to Protect Nursing Home Residents from Infection

Using Antibiotic Stewardship to Protect Nursing Home Residents from Infection

Today, CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog highlights the importance of educating residents and their families about the appropriate use of antibiotics in nursing homes.

Richard Gelula, MSW, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality in Long-Term Care, explains when residents and their families understand a facility’s antibiotic stewardship activities, they are better equipped to advocate for the right care for themselves or their loved ones. This helps to improve antibiotic prescribing practices and reduce their inappropriate use to protect residents from the consequences of antibiotic-resistant infections, such as C. difficile. 

CDC recommends all nursing homes implement core elements to improve antibiotic use. To guide these improvements, CDC released a new resource: Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes.

Learn more about the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing in nursing homes by reading more atCDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog. Nicole Brandt, PharmD, president elect of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, highlights the role of the consultant pharmacist in improving antibiotic stewardship in nursing homes in her CDC Safe Healthcare Blog. Nimalie Stone, MD, medical epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, discusses CDC’s new resource, the Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homes, to support nursing home efforts to improve antibiotic use in her CDC Safe Healthcare Blog.