The Critical Role of the Staff Nurse in Antimicrobial Stewardship—Unrecognized, but Already There: Table 1.

Abstract

An essential participant in antimicrobial stewardship who has been unrecognized and underutilized is the "staff nurse." Although the role of staff nurses has not formally been recognized in guidelines for implementing and operating antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) or defined in the medical literature, they have always performed numerous functions that are integral to successful antimicrobial stewardship. Nurses are antibiotic first responders, central communicators, coordinators of care, as well as 24-hour monitors of patient status, safety, and response to antibiotic therapy. An operational analysis of inpatient admissions evaluates these nursing stewardship activities and analyzes the potential benefits of nurses' formal education about, and inclusion into, ASPs.

Undergraduate antibiotic stewardship training: Are we leaving our future prescribers ‘flapping in the wind’?

“…The same applies to nurse practitioners, who are an important cadre of healthcare professional with a proven track record in antibiotic prescribing in SA communities, [8] in addition to intensive-care nurses, who already play a pivotal role in multidisciplinary hospital-based stewardship programmes. [9,10] Opportunities to improve baseline knowledge of pharmacists in SA have already been identified, [2,10] and work to assess barriers and enablers to reduce variability in stewardship education at the eight SA pharmacy schools has begun.…”

Bedside Registered Nurse Roles in Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Survey of Acute-Care Hospitals in Los Angeles County

“…A large study including 34 hospitals in Spain demonstrated that a significant proportion of patients identified as colonized or infected with CPE during hospitalization probably acquired this organism in a nursing home during the period preceding their hospital admission. 2 In addition, a recent review of the literature demonstrated that according to US-based studies, the percentage of CPE isolates that could be associated with the community ranged from 5.6% to 10.8%. 3 We have recently demonstrated the less effective effect of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on CPE compared to vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) fecal carriage.…”

‘Esprit de corps’: Towards collaborative integration of pharmacists and nurses into antimicrobial stewardship programmes in South Africa

“…[2,3] In this regard, effective ASPs depend largely on monitoring practices, teamwork in developing and implementing interventions, and organisational infrastructure. [2] It is therefore critical in the SA context to utilise the existing resources of pharmacists and registered nurses (RNs), who are well placed to co-ordinate anti-infective management and improve patient outcomes.…”

“…[3] RNs play an essential role in monitoring compliance with institutional guidelines and best practice, monitoring for drug allergies and side-effects, obtain ing and reporting of therapeutic levels, management and admini stration of medicines with mixed dosages, e.g. insulin, and ensuring timely and correct administration of antimicrobials.…”