AURA
Appropriateness of antimicrobial use in Australian hospitals (NAPS)
Data on appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing in Australian hospitals and aged care homes is collected through the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS).
The National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) at the Doherty Institute (a joint venture between the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne) conducts the Hospital NAPS, the Surgical NAPS and the Aged Care NAPS.
Hospital NAPS
Hospital NAPS is a voluntary annual audit of antimicrobial use. It provides a snapshot of medication charts and patient records from contributing hospitals, which have been assessed for appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing and compliance with guidelines.
The results from the Hospital NAPS can be used as evidence to support the antimicrobial stewardship criterion of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard.
For more information on Hospital NAPS, or to participate in the survey, please visit the NAPS website.
Hospital NAPS reports
Surgical NAPS
The Surgical NAPS was developed to collect more detailed information about prescribing practices for surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis to guide quality improvement programs. The Commission supported the 2016 pilot of Surgical NAPS conducted by NCAS, and NCAS has reported on the results of the 2017 and 2018 Surgical NAPS.
Aged care NAPS
The Aged Care NAPS collects data on appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing and infections in aged care homes. For information visit the Aged Care NAPS page.