AMDA Blog Posted on CDC Website for “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has partnered with AMDA—Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine and other groups for “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week,” November 14-20, 2011. As part of this, CDC has posted a blog from AMDA, on its website, "Using Antibiotics Wisely in Long Term Care Settings,". In the posting, AMDA Clinical Affairs Director Jacqueline Vance, RNC, said, “We believe that medical directors of long term care facilities can have enormous impact on appropriate antibiotic use.” She went on to list several activities designed to ensure correct antibiotic usage in this care setting, including appropriate policies and procedures to make sure that patients are only started on antibiotics when necessary, establishing criteria for defining infections and antibiotic initiation, and auditing antibiotic usage. In addition to the blog, the CDC has posted information about AMDA here.

As part of “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week,” CDC also will publish a wide array of special information including when antibiotics work, antibiotic questions and answers, and antibiotic “fast facts”. Additionally, the "Get Smart” campaign page includes print materials that can be downloaded and used.

To help educate your facility staff on antibiotic stewardship and infection prevention in long term care, AMDA has created a self-study webinar for CME/CMD credit, which can also be used as training material for a staff in-service. Learn more…