Provider and organization education
CDI, HA-CDI
Partner education was another important component for the uptake of this initiative. The targeted audience was prescribers of antibiotics, multidisciplinary health care teams including nurses and clinical pharmacists, and targeted organizational leaders, including site and executive leads. Prior to implementation at the first site, educational materials including education sessions, information packages, print and web-based materials, were developed by members of the research team. Educational sessions and materials were tailored to the targeted audience in order to help inform and reinforce a change in prescriber practice.Education sessions were conducted at each participating site to inform local change in prescribing practice at the corresponding site. The sessions included presentations at key meetings (physician rounds, nurse education days, and site leadership meetings) and provided information on Prevent CDI-55 + , Bio-K + ® probiotics, and the effectiveness of probiotic use. Frequent presentations were conducted for the first three months at each site once the specific site started implementation, and continued as requested throughout the implementation period.Posters, table cards (foldable cards placed at worksites convenient to the healthcare workers), and brochures containing information on Prevent CDI-55 + and the effectiveness of probiotic use were distributed at each site during the first month of implementation. In addition, web-based materials including an informational power-point presentation and a staff perspective video was available to prescribers and patients on the AHS website once all four sites had undergone implementation of the probiotic. The power-point presentation provided an outline of Prevent CDI-55 + , clinical findings on the effectiveness and safety of probiotics use, and the importance of reducing HA-CDI. The staff perspective video contained interview footage of consented health care providers and patients sharing their experience with CDI. The AHS website is freely available to AHS staff and the public (Educational material produced by the makers of Bio-K + ® was not used in this study or in the Prevent CDI-55 + study.