As ASNS PQITs work to decrease antibiotic use in newborn and NICU infants, many different measures are being implemented to aid in accomplishing this goal. Some teams began by defining at-risk criteria to determine a need for antibiotic administration while other teams implemented an antibiotic hard stop at 36 or 48 hours to automatically discontinue any antibiotics that had been ordered allowing for reassessment of the need to continue treatment. As one measure is implemented and sustained, teams are moving on through the ASNS action plan to implement additional measures to decrease antibiotic use.
The results of these measures have demonstrated a decrease in overall total days of antibiotic therapy both in the Newborn Nursery and in the NICU. From the beginning of the baseline period of ASNS in November 2016 through May 30, 2017, nearly 28,000 newborn nursery infants and 6,500 NICU infants have been touched by the work teams are performing around ASNS.
