Start Using Our Gentamicin Improvement Guide

This guide is aimed at hospitals that want to ensure the safety and efficacy of Gentamicin, a powerful but potentially toxic antibiotic.

Developed by frontline clinicians, support staff and national quality improvement experts, the guide is essentially an aid to direct hospitals through the process of improving the quality of prescribing and usage of Gentamicin.

It covers all stages of the quality improvement journey:

• Establishing structure
• Establishing an aim
• How to start measuring
• How to start making changes

Better Patient Outcomes

By following the advice in this improvement guide, hospitals may see the following benefits:

• better patient outcomes in treating Gram negative sepsis, including potentially reduced mortality
• reduced need to escalate to broader spectrum antibiotics, thereby preserving their utility for more complex infective cases
• reduced time spent in hospital due to sub-therapeutic use of Gentamicin
• reduced rates of harm from inappropriate use
• fewer patients requiring Nephrology or Critical Care referral
• potentially reduced costs associated with harm from Gentamicin, including reduced direct treatment costs, renal replacement therapy costs and litigation costs
• potentially reduced length of stay for patients treated with Gram-negative sepsis.

It should be noted that this guide relies on appropriate patient selection. Careful consideration of the potential risks and benefits should occur for every patient. This risk assessment should continue throughout therapy.