The potential role of nurses in antimicrobial stewardship

Background The antimicrobial stewardship is developed to provide a guide on the responsible use of antimicrobial drugs. Thus, slowing down the development of antimicrobial resistance. However, the nurse's role in antimicrobial stewardship is not clarified. Failure toinclude the nurse within the antimicrobial stewardship guidelines may result in poor execution of antimicrobial stewardship.Aim To explore the role of nurses in antimicrobial stewardship and how it can be practically implemented within the medical field.Method This is a literature review where seven qualitative studies, two quantitative studies and a mix-methods study examines the nurse's role in antimicrobial stewardship.Results Two main themes and five sub-themes were created. The two main themes were clinical role and collaboration. The clinical role described the nurse's role as a patient advocate and the nurse's contribution to antimicrobial stewardship through monitoring and evaluation of the patient and treatment, as well as through safe sampling, drug administration and hygiene. The collaboration showed and identified the nurse's role as a communicator and educator. Conclusion Conclusions that can be drawn from the literature review are that the potential roles the nurse may have in antimicrobial stewardship are many and those we have identified are already included in the nurse's daily work