About the Bug and Drug Project

In 2016, we launched a project focused on improving education and raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance. The aim was to address the critical challenges of this issue and healthcare-associated infection. 

We use several resources and education styles to deliver a multi-tiered educational programme about microbes and antibiotics to multi-professional groups and the wider public.

This project is nurse-led and strives to bring individuals from different occupations and agencies together through an integrated education approach. This should increase their understanding of their role in protecting patients against both infection and inappropriate antibiotic use throughout the patient pathway.

The outcomes from our pilot scheme

We trialled one of the project work streams, a UTI management tool, in four nursing homes in West Cornwall. The staff and GPs were fully engaged in this pilot, which aimed to improve how antibiotics are used for urinary tract infections.

The tool encompasses SIGN 88 guidance to help health care providers focus on the signs and symptoms of UTIs rather than using a dip stick test.

This scheme has seen both quantitative and qualitative improvements, as the staff expressed feeling more competent and confident. In addition to this, the process of liaising with GPs was much more streamlined.

See the impact of this  trial below:

The future…

Thanks to our pilot scheme, there is evidence to support the concept of introducing a systematic approach to the management of conditions such as UTI’s. Other situations and conditions could be incorporated into these schemes to improve the care provided to patients and, consequently, reduce admissions to hospital.

The role of the nurse educators in this project has highlighted the potential to improve and empower an undervalued group of staff who are responsible for important clinical decision making but may not have the education to help them feel confident in their choices.

The healthcare community is expected to reduce the number of E.Coli bacteraemia by 50% of the next three years. As the majority of these instances occur in primary care, the role of the nurse educator could support any quality improvement initiatives that are required to achieve this.