Factors Predicting Nurse Engagement in Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs among Registered Nurses in Selected Government Hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) requires the active engagement of nurses in promoting the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents and reducing antimicrobial resistance. Aim: This study aimed to determine the levels of nurses’ AMS knowledge, perceived institutional policy and support, physician–nurse collaboration, and nurse engagement and to explore the extent to which these characteristics predicted engagement in AMS programs. Methodology: The study employed a quantitative descriptive-correlational design with predictive analysis. The study sample comprised 138 registered nurses selected through proportionate stratified random sampling from three selected government hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, Spearman’s rank-order correlation and multiple linear regression at a significance level of .05. Results: Most respondents (90.6%) had a high level of AMS knowledge, whilst 9.4% had a moderate level. Respondents rated institutional policy and support as “Agree” (M = 3.09, SD = 0.72) and physician–nurse collaboration as “Agree” (M = 3.14, SD = 0.69). Nurses often engaged in AMS activities (M=3.10, SD=0.75). Nurse engagement was weakly positively correlated with AMS knowledge (Spearman’s ρ= .211, p = .013) and moderately positively correlated with institutional policy and support (Spearman’s ρ = .502, p < .001) and physician–nurse collaboration (Spearman’s ρ = .475, p < .001). The regression model was significant, F(3, 134) = 28.994, p <.001, and explained 39.4% of the variance in nurse engagement (R2 = .394; adjusted R2 =.380). Institutional policy and support had the largest standardized regression coefficient (β =.366) followed by physician–nurse teamwork (β =.346) and AMS knowledge (β =.171). Conclusion: The findings suggest that nurses’ engagement is more strongly associated with organizational and interprofessional characteristics than to knowledge alone. These findings informed the empirical underpinning of the proposed NURSE-AMS Engage program