Antimicrobial Stewardship and the Infection Control Practitioner: A Natural Alliance

Abstract

Antibiotic overuse and misuse has contributed to rising rates of multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridioides difficile. Decreasing antibiotic misuse has become a national public health priority. This review outlines the goals of antimicrobial stewardship, essential members of the program, implementation strategies, approaches to measuring the program's impact, and steps needed to build a program. Highlighted is the alliance between antimicrobial stewardship programs and infection prevention programs in their efforts to improve antibiotic use, improve diagnostic stewardship for C difficile and asymptomatic bacteriuria, and decrease health care-associated infections and the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms.

Keywords: Antimicrobial stewardship; Asymptomatic bacteriuria; Clostridioides difficile colitis; Infection control and prevention; Multidrug resistant organisms.