Sustainability of antimicrobial stewardship programs in Australian rural hospitals: a qualitative study.

Conclusions Strategies to increase the sustainability of AMS programs in rural hospitals include using accreditation as a mechanism to drive direct resource allocation, explicit staffing recommendations for rural hospitals, greater support to develop formal network arrangements and a framework for integrated AMS programs across primary, aged and acute care. What is known about the topic? AMS programs facilitate the responsible use of antimicrobials. Implementation challenges have been identified for rural hospitals, but the sustainability of AMS programs has not been explored. What does this paper add? Factors that positively affected the sustainability of AMS programs in rural hospitals were a hospital executive that provided strong governance and accountability, dedicated resources, network or area-wide arrangements and adaptability. Challenges to building AMS programs with these features were identified. What are the implications for practitioners? Recommended actions to boost the sustainability of AMS programs in rural hospitals are required. These include using accreditation as a mechanism to drive direct resource allocation, explicit staffing recommendations for rural hospitals, greater support to develop network arrangements and support to create integrated AMS programs across acute, aged and primary care. PMID: 32492364 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research