Multidrug-Resistant Microbial Infections
Course #94214 - $30 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Today, a generation of microbes has emerged that are so resistant to available medications that they might again become serious threats. Even the once easily treated organisms, such as staphylococcus and streptococcus, have acquired resistance to many standard antimicrobials, making them much harder to treat. The urgency of this situation has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue guidelines that might help keep the situation under control, if universally followed. These guidelines include the concept that the proliferation of resistant organisms can be diminished if good sanitary practices are adhered to. This course will provide an overview of the mechanics of multidrug resistance and the most common resistant organisms.
- INTRODUCTION
- EFFECTS OF ANTIMICROBIALS
- MECHANISMS OF BACTERIAL RESISTANCE
- EMERGING RESISTANCE
- FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESISTANCE
- IMPACT OF RESISTANT PATHOGENS ON HEALTHCARE COSTS
- SPECIFIC ORGANISMS AND DISEASES
- METHODS OF PREVENTING RESISTANCE
- CONCLUSION
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals involved in the treatment and care of patients with infections.
In spite of a growing understanding and application of effective control measures, the problem of multidrug-resistant microbial infection remains a ubiquitous and complex issue for communities and hospitals. Each decade seems to usher in a new generation of common bacterial pathogens that have become resistant to available medications, resulting in ongoing excess morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the basics of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and to review the classes of multidrug-resistant pathogens currently prevalent in healthcare facilities and the community, including guidelines for prevention and options for therapy.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the effects of antimicrobials and the mechanisms of microbial resistance.
- Review the etiology of emerging resistant organisms in the healthcare setting.
- Discuss the impact of and possible control measures for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
- List and compare additional resistant organisms that may be encountered in the healthcare setting.
- Outline ways to control and prevent the development of microbial resistance in healthcare facilities, including patient education and outreach to non-English-proficient patients.
Carol Shenold, RN, ICP, graduated from St. Paul’s Nursing School, Dallas, Texas, achieving her diploma in nursing. Over the past thirty years she has worked in hospital nursing in various states in the areas of obstetrics, orthopedics, intensive care, surgery and general medicine.
Mrs. Shenold served as the Continuum of Care Manager for Vencor Oklahoma City, coordinating quality review, utilization review, Case Management, Infection Control, and Quality Management. During that time, the hospital achieved Accreditation with Commendation with the Joint Commission, with a score of 100.
Mrs. Shenold was previously the Infection Control Nurse for Deaconess Hospital, a 300-bed acute care facility in Oklahoma City. She is an active member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). She worked for the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality for six years.
John M. Leonard, MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, completed his post-graduate clinical training at the Yale and Vanderbilt University Medical Centers before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1974. He is a clinician-educator and for many years served as director of residency training and student educational programs for the Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine. Over a career span of 40 years, Dr. Leonard conducted an active practice of general internal medicine and an inpatient consulting practice of infectious diseases.
Contributing faculty, Carol Shenold, RN, ICP, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Contributing faculty, John M. Leonard, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John V. Jurica, MD, MPH
Margo A. Halm, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN
Randall L. Allen, PharmD
Shannon E. Smith, MHSC, CST, CSFA
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.