Nurses’ Perceptions, Involvement, Confidence and Perceived Barriers Towards Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in Pakistan: Findings from a Multi-Center, Cross-Sectional Study

Zia Ul Mustafa,1,2 Muhammad Nouman Manzoor,3 Arfah Shahid,4 Muhammad Salman,5 Khezar Hayat,6 Khalida Yasmin,7 Mohamed A Baraka,8,9 Smitha Mathew,10 Mahpara Kanwal,11 Samina Parveen,12 Irsa Jamal,13 Amer Hayat Khan,1 Brian Godman,14– 16 Fahad Saleem,17 Mohammad Bashaar18 1Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia; 2Department of Pharmacy Services, District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital, Pakpattan 54700, Pakistan; 3Department of Medicine, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; 4Department of Medicine, Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan; 5Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan; 6Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan; 7Lahore School of Nursing, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 8Clinical Pharmacy Program, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain Campus, Al Ain University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 9Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Nasr city, Cairo, Egypt; 10Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 11Department of Pharmacy Services, District Headquarter Hospital, Okara South City, Pakistan; 12Department of Pharmacy Services, District Headquarter Hospital, Chakwal, Pakistan; 13Department of Pharmacy Services, District Headquarter Hospital, Kasur, Pakistan; 14School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, South Africa; 15Centre of Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 16Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK; 17Faculty of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan; 18SMART Afghan International Trainings and Consultancy, Kabul, AfghanistanCorrespon