Oral candidiasis in a specialist palliative care unit: assessment, diagnosis, management.

Objectives: To evaluate current clinical practices of assessment, diagnosis and management of oral candidiasis in a specialist palliative care unit to improve patient outcomes through compliance with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Care Standard.

Methods: A clinical audit cycle: review of 100 patient records preceded an educational intervention delivered over 4 weeks to clinical stakeholders, followed by a review of an additional 100 records.

Results: Eleven patients in each cohort had oral candidiasis.