b'myRecognition Referral Have you ever thought about bringing your friends and family to work? With the myRecognition Referral Program, Program Update you get amazing rewards for making qualified, successful referrals to open positions at Peconic Bay Medical Center.Michele Brockington, Talent Acquisition Specialist After a three-month pilot in 2019, Im thrilled to confirm that were bringing this back as a permanent program for our employees to enjoy! Heres how it works:Visit NorthwellCareers.com: Click Job Search to browse open positions. Under Business Unit select Peconic Bay Medical Center.Explore your network: Reach out to your family and friends to find great applicants.Refer a qualified candidate: Ask them to include your name when they email their resume to Michele Brockington at mbrockingt@northwell.eduReceive 5,000 myRecognition points if your friend is hired!Youll get an email notification about your points.Antimicrobial StewardshipBy: JoMarie Yazak, B.S., R.Ph, SIDP Infectious Disease Pharmacist (IDSA)Since Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin, the field ofwatch over the use of antibiotics daily by:medicine has been changed beyond any other discovery. Wea. Making sure the antibiotics are dosed properly for each are now able to cure diseases which otherwise would haveindividual renal function and adjusting them as needed.been untreatableeven deadly. b.Checking for bug/drug mismatches. Checking culture and Unfortunately, the overuse and misuse of these vitalsensitivity reports when available to see if the drug is the medications has led to increasing antimicrobial resistance.correct one to eradicate the organism or if an antibiotic is Resistance is when an antibiotic loses its ability to kill ortruly needed.effectively control the bacteria. This occurs due to a changec. Converting IV medications to oral medications as soon as or mutation in the bacterial cells, rendering the antibioticpossible to decrease IV catheter infection risk.ineffective. This process of resistance creates the superbugsd.Converting or eliminating the use of proton pump inhibitor we have heard so much about and have seen firsthand asdrugs such as Nexium, Protonix, Prevecid, etc. These healthcare professionals. medications lower the acidity in the stomach and may According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention,cause harmful bacteria overgrow. We do this to decrease at least 2.8 million people in the US alone become infectedthe risk of clostridiodes difficle (C.Diff) infection when with some type of resistant bacteria each year, and at leastpatients are taking antibiotics.35,000 of those people die each year as a direct result of thesee.Adding complementary therapies, such as probiotics, infections. to keep the flora of the G.I. tract healthy. This prevents overgrowth of non-friendly bacteria (such as C. diff).Its not all bad! Lets get to the good news. Here at Peconicf. Working collaboratively with Infection Prevention to assureBay Medical Center, we have created an exciting initiativethe proper signage is prominently displayed on isolation to combat antimicrobial resistance.Its our Antimicrobialrooms and observing that proper hand washing and Stewardship team. donning of proper protective equipment is being followed to prevent the spread of infection.Every team needs leadership.We are lucky to have a committed lead physician in Dr. Sandeep Gandhi, MD,Through the implementation of these steps, we can proudly FACP, FIDSA. I was given the role of lead pharmacist aftersay we are almost 2 years with ZERO MRSA Bacteremia!completing an I.D. certification with the Society of InfectiousAny questions?Call the pharmacy and ask for a member of Diseases Pharmacists.Together with our team, we keepthe team. 5'