{"title":"Diagnostic stewardship: establishing the role of the hospital nurse to inform local engagement strategies","authors":"Sue Bowler , Jo Brown","doi":"10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100381","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Diagnostic stewardship is ‘coordinated guidance and interventions to improve appropriate use of microbiological diagnostics to guide therapeutic decisions’ and a fundamental part of antimicrobial stewardship and the nursing role. The role of the nurse in diagnostic stewardship is relatively unknown and an underused resource. Lack of involvement and training in diagnostic stewardship can lead to inaction or incorrect actions, either of which may be detrimental to patient management, outcomes and care.</p></div><div><h3>Aim</h3><p>To determine the role of the hospital adult nurse in diagnostic stewardship to inform local engagement strategies.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The methodology was informed by Whiffin's (2020) systematic search approach. Electronic databases were searched from 2016 to 2022. The studies included were primary research papers involving adult nurses working in a hospital setting, with findings relevant to a diagnostic stewardship role. Thematic analysis was chosen to understand and compare the results, findings and recommendations of the studies.</p></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><p>Seven studies were included in the review. The identified themes were: (i) nursing role – to recognize infection, aid diagnosis and review results; (ii) nurse challenges – lack of knowledge and confidence to implement diagnostic stewardship; and (iii) Nurse education, empowerment and use of clinical tools.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Research studies do not consistently recognize the full scope of the diagnostic stewardship nursing role, signifying that nurses remain an underused resource in promoting diagnostic stewardship. Research-based clarification of the role of the nurse in diagnostic stewardship, outlined in this review, is therefore vital. Further UK-based, nurse-led research is needed to capture the impact of nurse-driven diagnostic stewardship interventions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33492,"journal":{"name":"Infection Prevention in Practice","volume":"6 3","pages":"Article 100381"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590088924000453/pdfft?md5=09a3e76733890c6cc6531202bde91314&pid=1-s2.0-S2590088924000453-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Infection Prevention in Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590088924000453","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Diagnostic stewardship is ‘coordinated guidance and interventions to improve appropriate use of microbiological diagnostics to guide therapeutic decisions’ and a fundamental part of antimicrobial stewardship and the nursing role. The role of the nurse in diagnostic stewardship is relatively unknown and an underused resource. Lack of involvement and training in diagnostic stewardship can lead to inaction or incorrect actions, either of which may be detrimental to patient management, outcomes and care.
Aim
To determine the role of the hospital adult nurse in diagnostic stewardship to inform local engagement strategies.
Methods
The methodology was informed by Whiffin's (2020) systematic search approach. Electronic databases were searched from 2016 to 2022. The studies included were primary research papers involving adult nurses working in a hospital setting, with findings relevant to a diagnostic stewardship role. Thematic analysis was chosen to understand and compare the results, findings and recommendations of the studies.
Findings
Seven studies were included in the review. The identified themes were: (i) nursing role – to recognize infection, aid diagnosis and review results; (ii) nurse challenges – lack of knowledge and confidence to implement diagnostic stewardship; and (iii) Nurse education, empowerment and use of clinical tools.
Conclusion
Research studies do not consistently recognize the full scope of the diagnostic stewardship nursing role, signifying that nurses remain an underused resource in promoting diagnostic stewardship. Research-based clarification of the role of the nurse in diagnostic stewardship, outlined in this review, is therefore vital. Further UK-based, nurse-led research is needed to capture the impact of nurse-driven diagnostic stewardship interventions.