Nationwide Survey of In-Service Nursing Education on Antimicrobial Therapy and AST/ICT Activities of Infection Control Nurses

A questionnaire survey was conducted among certified infection control nurses or certified nurse specialists in infection control in 629 institutions to investigate their perceived necessity of educating staff nurses on antimicrobial therapy, the current state of in-service nursing education on antimicrobial therapy at their institutions, and their activities in ASTs or ICTs. A total of 139 responses were obtained (response rate: 22.1%). The necessity of educating staff nurses was widely perceived with regard to items related to antimicrobial preparation, change upon mixing, and blood concentration measurement, including “timing for dissolving and mixing antimicrobial agents” and “reasons for dissolving and mixing antimicrobial agents immediately before admini-stration.” In-service education on blood concentration measurement and on the doses of time-dependent antimicrobial agents was widely implemented. With regard to the three assessment items, in-service education was implemented in 30% to 50% of the surveyed institutions, with 40% to 60% of the respondents indicating that such education was “necessary.” At AST/ICT meetings, infection control nurses were found to actively provide information about patient con-ditions. The present findings confirm the importance of the role of infection control nurses in antimicrobial stewardship, especially in promoting practical education and information-sharing with regard to antimicrobial administration based on the PK-PD theory and patient assessment.