The Impact of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Pharmacy Specialist on Antimicrobial Days of Therapy through Education Driven Policies, Procedures, and Interventions.

The primary goal of antimicrobial stewardship is to improve patient outcomes and minimize the consequences of antibiotic use. Prospective audit and feedback cannot always be performed by an antimicrobial stewardship program member which is where policies, procedures and education can aid interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact on antimicrobial days of therapy due to a dedicated clinical pharmacy specialist primarily responsible for developing policies and procedures and providing education. A pre-intervention and post-intervention retrospective analysis of antimicrobial days of therapy from September 2019-May 2020 and July 2020-March 2021 was performed. Inclusion criteria consisted of adults receiving IV vancomycin, azithromycin, meropenem, ciprofloxacin, and/or levofloxacin. Excluded criteria consisted of documented interventions that were not related to implemented policies and procedures or performed education and patients receiving antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis. The primary outcome was antimicrobial days of therapy. An average of 3.47 ± 2.46 days (pre-intervention, n = 203) and 3.21 ± 2.52 days (post-intervention, n = 203) were observed for the primary outcome (p < 0.04182). Pharmacists performed 75 interventions pre-intervention and 102 interventions post-intervention (p = 0.0092). The implementation of a dedicated antimicrobial stewardship clinical pharmacy specialist responsible for developing policies, procedures, and education successfully reduced antimicrobial days of therapy and documented interventions.

Use of Eravacycline for Acinetobacter baumannii Infections: A Case Series.

This case series describes the clinical course of 10 patients who received eravacycline antimicrobial therapy for a variety of different Acinetobacter baumannii infection types at a community care hospital.

Rethinking residency recruitment, application, and interview processes to benefit applicants and programs long-term.

Pharmacy residency recruitment and interviews have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many traditional recruitment events and interviews were transitioned from in-person to virtual, and new approaches to recruitment, such as virtual open houses, were developed. There are limited data on how these changes impacted pharmacy residency applicants and programs, and the future of virtual events is currently unknown. We highlight recommendations for virtual recruitment and interviews and provide suggestions for residency programs and national organizations to improve virtual processes in the future.

Evaluation of Pharmacy Residency Recruitment and Interview Processes during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-2021 Application Cycle).

Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most pharmacy residency programs changed to an all-virtual format for recruitment and interviews for the 2020-2021 application cycle. There are no data evaluating the experiences and perceptions of these changes from the perspective of pharmacy residency programs and applicants. Methods: An electronic cross-sectional survey was distributed via email to post-graduate year 1 (PGY1) and post-graduate year 2 (PGY2) pharmacy residency programs and applicants across the Southeastern United States. Results have been reported according to the Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS) guidelines (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research [EQUATOR] Network). Results: 142 residency applicants and 104 residency programs responded to the survey. Most respondents participated in virtual recruitment and interviews. In 2020-2021, less residency programs participated in local/regional showcases and personal placement services, but social media engagement increased. Of the applicants who responded, over half felt the need to apply to more programs during this application cycle, and a corresponding increase in applications were seen by residency programs. Residency interviews appeared shorter than previous years, and less programs offered an informal time to get to know the applicants. Overall, applicants and residency programs preferred on-site interviews, but both parties reported feeling confident creating rank lists after virtual interviews. Conclusion: These results highlight the impact of COVID-19 on residency recruitment and the interview process. Residency programs should implement feedback for improving the virtual experience, as able. The ongoing pandemic may affect the 2022-2023 application cycle, and pharmacy leadership organizations should consider developing guidance for applicants and residency programs on navigating another year of virtual events.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.