Companion animal practice – antimicrobial use guidelines

The steps in this next activity, challenges to achieving good antimicrobial stewardship, will discuss some barriers you may face when trying to implement AMS. Each step will discuss the barriers in the context of different species, and these will be clearly identified in the step titles.

In this video, Rosanne Jepson, an associate Professor in small animal internal medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, discusses the challenges to developing antimicrobial use guidelines in companion animal practice.

Some suggested aims to consider when developing antimicrobial prescribing guidelines are as follows:

• Easy to use and apply in hospitals.
• Ensure appropriate antimicrobial prescribing.
• Provide a forum for discussion in complex cases.
• Achieve individual and team accountability for use of antimicrobial agents.
• Provide a platform for audit and understanding of antimicrobial prescribing.
• Help educate undergraduate students on rotation.

The challenges to achieving these aims can vary from hospital to hospital so think about which barriers mentioned in the video are applicable to your own practice.

Think about ways that these challenges have been overcome in your own practice. Share your ideas with other learners in the comments section.

In week 2, we will discuss the ways Rosanne and her practice implemented AMS in regards to antimicrobial guidelines, despite the challenges mentioned here.

Please find a downloadable copy of the PowerPoint slides used in the video in the downloads section below.