Antibiotic Stewardship in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Effects of an Automatic 48-Hour Antibiotic Stop Order on Antibiotic Use.

Background: Meeting antibiotic stewardship goals in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is challenging because of the unique nature of newborns and the lack of specificity of clinical signs of sepsis. Antibiotics are commonly continued for 48 hours pending culture results and clinical status. The goal of this study was to examine if the implementation of a 48-hour automatic stop (autostop) order during NICU admissions would decrease antibiotic use at UnityPoint Health-Meriter.