Role of nurses in supporting antimicrobial stewardship
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Role of nurses in supporting antimicrobial stewardship

David Ladenheim Antimicrobial pharmacist, NHS East and North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Welwyn Garden City, England

Why you should read this article:
  • » To improve your awareness of the effects of antimicrobial resistance and its causes

  • » To enable you to support the appropriate prescribing of antimicrobials in primary and secondary care settings

  • » To understand the responsibilities of nurses in antimicrobial stewardship initiatives

Antimicrobial resistance is a significant public health issue and a major threat to global health. The solutions are multifactorial, and include: a reduction in the unnecessary use of antibiotics; public health campaigns; the use of systems approaches by healthcare organisations; and involving the knowledge and responsibilities of individual nurses. This article examines the challenge of antimicrobial resistance and explores the concept of antimicrobial stewardship in addressing this issue. It also discusses how nurses can contribute to a systems approach in primary and secondary care to support antimicrobial stewardship initiatives.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2018.e11245

Citation

Ladenheim D (2018) Role of nurses in supporting antimicrobial stewardship. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2018.e11245

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

@ladenheimd

Correspondence

david.ladenheim@nhs.net

Conflict of interest

None declared

Published online: 29 August 2018

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