Fecal Matter Transplant and Nursing Care: Combating Clostridioides difficile Infections.

NURSING; GUT microbiome; CROSS infection; CONTINUING education units; CLOSTRIDIUM diseases; PROTON pump inhibitors; RISK assessment; FECAL microbiota transplantation; GASTRIC acid; ANTIBIOTICS; COMORBIDITY

Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is a bacterium found in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) that can lead to serious infection. Approximately half a million C. diff infections (CDIs) occur annually in the United States and are associated with nearly 29,000 deaths (Lessa et al., 2015). Children were once considered to be at low risk for an infection with C. diff; however, hospital-acquired as well as community- acquired infections have been on the rise in the pediatric population. Antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors, surgery, and comorbidities all increase the chances of initial as well as recurrent infections with C. diff. Although standard use of antibiotics is the first line of treatment, virulent bacterial strands, increasing infection rates, and high frequency of recurrence are leading clinicians to consider other treatments, such as fecal matter transplants (FMTs). A review of current literature was completed using Embase and PubMed databases to examine the impact of CDI and the use of FMT in the pediatric population. Seventeen studies were included in the review, providing information on risk factors and FMT as a treatment modality for C. diff. As FMT becomes a more common practice in pediatric CDI, nurses play a major role in not only preventing infection, but also educating families and supporting them through FMT treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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