Roles and responsibilities of neuroscience nurses in preventing Ventriculostomy related infections in adults: an integrative literature review.

Abstract Background The literature suggests that when nurses are aware of their roles and responsibilities, it may contribute to the improved quality of healthcare services. However, the identified roles and responsibilities of nurses in preventing ventriculostomy-related infections (VRI) are limited in the literature, despite their active participation in the management of external ventricular drainage (EVD). Method The CINAHL Complete, Health Source: Nursing and Academic edition, and MEDLINE Complete were accessed simultaneously through the EBSCO database. The database was searched using the key search terms for peer-reviewed, full-text journal articles in English from 2016 onwards. More literature including some seminal articles were retrieved from the Scopus database after searching through the reference lists of relevant articles. The selected articles were appraised for quality and then thematically analysed. Results The thematic analysis of the 34 selected articles elucidated seven themes that inform certain nursing roles and responsibilities that could contribute to VRI prevention.