Additional information
Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS)
AMS is a term used to describe a variety of clinical interventions where the sole purpose is to improve and measure the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents (e.g. antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals). Bacterial resistance and adverse effects from antimicrobials are growing concerns in the general public and health care systems nation-wide. We are losing our antimicrobials to multi-drug resistant bugs.
Not only do we need to change prescribing practices to minimize unnecessary or excessive antimicrobial exposure for the sake of our patients, we need to be responsible for our own health and that of our families in the future (when antibiotics might be needed). We also want to reduce adverse events such as C. difficile infection.
Resources
NH AMS program goal
To improve patient care related to antimicrobial use in all NH facilities through collaboration with healthcare providers in order to:
- Successfully treat infections
- Reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use
- Minimize toxicities and adverse events
- Limit selection of antimicrobial resistant strains
To learn more about the Antimicrobial Stewardship program and initiatives in Northern Health please contact our program leads:
Contact us:
Alicia Rahier, BSc. Pharm. ACPR
NH AMS Program Coordinator
Email: alicia.rahier@northernhealth.ca
Phone: 250-612-2030
Dr. John Black, MBChB (UCT), FCP (SA)m FRCP (UK), Cert ID (SA), Dip HIV MAN (SA)
Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Specialist, AMS Medical Co-lead
Email: john.black@northernhealth.ca
Phone: 250-563-8284
Fax: 250-563-8285
- Audit and feedback policy (PDF)
- Infectious diseases consultation for prolonged duration intravenous antimicrobials (PDF) (To view Northern Health resources, you must log in using your NH username and password)
- IV to PO conversion of antimicrobials (PDF)
- Outpatient parenteral therapy (PDF)
- Pharmacist managed monitoring and dosing of vancomycin and aminoglycosides (PDF)
Smart phone applications
(Formerly known as Spectrum)
NH specific guidelines and resources are now available through Firstline mobile health (formerly known as Spectrum). The application is free to use and available from the App store for IOS and android users. If you are new to using this application check out our How-to-Guide for a general overview in navigating this application.
Resources and tools
- Antibacterial dosing guidance from BC Children's Hospital
- NH antibiogram
- BC Children’s Hospital antimicrobial guidelines
If you have any questions about Firstline or other listed resources, please email Alicia Rahier or call 250-612-2030.
Online references
- Association for Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease of Canada (Canadian)
- Bugs and drugs book (Canadian)
- BC Centre for Disease Control (Canadian)
- Centre for Disease Control (American)
- Infectious Disease Society of America (American)
- MyNH infection prevention and control page (to view this page you must log in using your NH username and password)
Education
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Program has two courses (Urinary Tract Infections and Pneumonia) available on the Learning Hub platform. Each course consists of 3 modules that should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete.
The courses provide a general overview of the pathophysiology, common causative pathogens, signs/symptoms, as well as how and when to treat these conditions. Course content incorporates NH-specific information on antimicrobial susceptibilities as per the current NH antibiogram, and there are links to additional AMS resources as well.
Courses searchable as "NHA – AMS – Urinary Tract Infections" and "NHA – AMS – Pneumonia".