(New Brunswick, NJ) – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, has been recognized as a Gold recipient of the New Jersey Department of Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Program.
The Gold award is the highest level of recognition in the program, and acknowledges local efforts to enhance evidence-based use of antibiotics, prevent overuse and reduce antimicrobial resistance.
Awards were presented last month at a ceremony and conference held at Middlesex College in Edison. The annual Antimicrobrial Stewardship Awards follow Antibiotic Awareness Week in November, an annual recognition campaign developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase awareness about the importance of appropriate antibiotic use to address and prevent antibiotic resistance.
“As high-reliability organizations, RWJUH and RWJBarnabas Health are committed to providing exceptional care within a safe environment for our patients,” said Andy Anderson, MD, Interim Chief Medical and Quality Officer for RWJUH and Executive Vice President, Chief Medical and Quality Officer, RWJBarnabas Health. “Educating our providers and sharing best practices about appropriate antimicrobrial use are core elements of our commitment to patient safety and delivering the highest quality care to ensure the best outcomes.”
The New Jersey Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Awards is a voluntary incentive program that encourages health care facilities to submit stewardship materials in accordance with the CDC’s Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship, which are key principles to guide efforts to improve antibiotic use and advance patient safety and improve outcomes.RWJUH’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Team achieved this recognition through a variety of initiatives designed to enhance appropriate use of antibiotics, including:
- Expanding the hospital’s stewardship team and providing prospective audit and feedback to providers for patients on antimicrobials and patients with positive blood cultures to improve treatment strategies.
- Working with Infection Prevention to establish evidence-based Clostrioides difficile treatment guidelines and provide real-time recommendations to providers on optimizing treatment for these patients.
- Creating guidelines and protocols with various multidisciplinary teams to standardize treatment and preventive approaches for RWJUH’s patients, including patients with respiratory tract infections, febrile neutropenia, and leukemia.
“The complexity of antimicrobial use, reporting, tracking, and education in addition to the variability in health care facility size and types of care require flexible programs and activities,” notes RWJUH President Alan Lee. “We are fortunate that our team across many disciplines recognizes the importance of these efforts and the role they have in providing safe, effective care through appropriate antimicrobial use.”
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 640-bed academic medical center that is New Jersey’s largest academic medical center through its deep partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. RWJUH is the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a nationally-ranked 2023-24 Best Children’s Hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s health. A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness. Learn more at www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick or www.bmsch.org
RWJUH has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Recognition for Nursing Excellence and being named to Newsweek’s 2023 list of Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers. The RWJUH Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center has been recognized by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association as meeting The Joint Commission's standards for Disease-Specific Care Comprehensive Stroke Center Advanced Certification. RWJUH has also earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Disease-Specific Care Certification for Spine Surgery; The Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification for Bariatric Services; and The Joint Commission Gold Seal Certification for Hip and Knee Replacement services. The Joint Commission also awarded RWJUH a Gold Seal Certification as well as an Advanced Certification in Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Implantation.
Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
(732) 937-8568