Antimicrobial Stewardship in Australian Health Care

The Commission’s Antimicrobial Stewardship in Australian Health Care (AMS Book) was first published in 2018, and continues to be enhanced with the inclusion of additional chapters to support AMS in specific settings. As new resources also become available, these will be added as hyperlinks to the AMS Book.

The most recent chapters deal with antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in general practice, AMS in the care of children, and AMS and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The AMS Book describes the roles of those responsible for establishing and implementing AMS programs, as well as how prescribers, pharmacists, infection control practitioners, nurses and midwives can contribute to program success by incorporating AMS principles in their clinical practice. It summarises current evidence about AMS strategies and interventions, and their implementation; each chapter begins with a summary of the key points relevant to the topic.

• Chapters 1–7 provide strategies for establishing, implementing and sustaining AMS; developing strategies and interventions that enhance prescribing behaviour; use of electronic clinical decision support systems; clinician education; monitoring antimicrobial use and evaluation of program outcomes; and, strategies for engaging consumers in AMS.
• Chapters 8–12 examine the roles of the range of clinicians involved in AMS. These chapters focus on the roles and responsibilities of clinicians in formal AMS programs, as well as how clinicians can incorporate AMS principles into their clinical practice. Clinicians covered in these chapters include infectious diseases physicians; clinical microbiologists; other prescribers; pharmacists; nurses and midwives; and infection control practitioners.
• Chapter 13 considers AMS in the setting of general practice, covering antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use in the community; factors that influence antimicrobial prescribing in general practice; antimicrobial stewardship strategies for general practice; clinical governance; and, leadership
• Chapter 14 focuses on AMS in the care of children and the specific and important considerations for this population group.
• Chapter 15 is the most recent chapter which focuses on AMS in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This chapter indicates the infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance experience of these communities, requirements of the NSQHS Standards in regards to cultural awareness and cultural safety and how AMS strategies can be optimised to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.