524 antimicrobial usage data is interpreted together

5.2.4 Antimicrobial usage data is interpreted together with infection
control and antimicrobial resistance data.

xxi
Key points and recommendations
6 Education and competency of prescribers
6.1 Key points
• Education in safe and judicious antimicrobial prescribing is an important element
of any antimicrobial stewardship program.
• Education of all health professionals involved in antimicrobial prescribing should
begin at undergraduate level and be consolidated with further training throughout
the postgraduate years.
• Active education techniques, such as academic detailing, consensus-building
sessions and educational workshops have been shown to be more effective in
changing prescribing behaviour than passive dissemination of information.
• Pharmaceutical industry-sponsored activities negatively influence prescribing behaviour.
6.2 Recommendations
6.2.1 Prescribers are taught to prescribe according to the Therapeutic
Guidelines: Antibiotic in undergraduate, postgraduate and
professional development programs.
6.2.2 Hospitals are responsible for educating clinical staff about their
local antimicrobial stewardship programs.
6.2.3 Hospitals enact policies on the interaction between prescribers
and the pharmaceutical industry, based on national guidance.
Prescribers are educated about the influence of pharmaceutical
industry activities on prescribing behaviour.
6.2.4 Education on antimicrobial stewardship is part of postgraduate
training of infectious diseases physicians, microbiologists,
pharmacologists, nurses and pharmacists.
7 The role of the clinical microbiology service
7.1 Key points
• The clinical microbiology service is an essential and integral part of organisational
initiatives that underpin antimicrobial stewardship efforts.
• The establishment of best practice procedures for rapid microbiological evaluation
is critical to delivering timely and accurate information.
• Intensive care units are an area of particular importance, as the control of
resistance in these units can affect other areas of the hospital. The clinical
microbiology service should therefore pay particular attention to services
provided to these areas.

xxii Antimicrobial stewardship in Australian hospitals
Key points and recommendations
• Reports to the clinician from the clinical microbiology service can provide
comments that interpret isolate significance, provide antimicrobial susceptibility
interpretation and provide antimicrobial management advice.
• The clinical microbiology service also has a critical role to play in improving
overall antimicrobial use through providing information, establishing guidelines
and educating other hospital staff. One key strategy is the production of annual
cumulative antibiograms to indicate susceptibility patterns for key pathogens.