The Current State and Future Directions of Inpatient Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship.

Antibiotic use in hospitalized children is highly variable and often unnecessary, which puts children at risk of antibiotic-associated harms including adverse drug events, antibiotic resistance, and long-term chronic health problems. Antimicrobial stewardship programs reduce unnecessary antibiotic use through antimicrobial review, the development of guidelines and clinical decision-support tools, diagnostic stewardship, and other targeted interventions. Future directions for inpatient stewardship include increased collaboration with nurses, utilization of implementation science to close the gap between evidence-based recommendations and practice changes, and the extension of stewardship from large academic centers to smaller hospitals.