Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes towards Biosimilar Medicines as Part of Evidence-Based Nursing Practice-International Pilot Study within the Project Biosimilars Nurses Guide Version 2.0.

Introduction: The increasing availability of biosimilars can increase patient access to these drugs and reduce the economic burden. Nurses play a key role in the education, administration, pharmacovigilance and management of the side effects of biosimilars. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards biosimilar drugs in different countries. Methods: An international cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2021 to February 2022. The survey was carried out using Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), sent by the CAWI panel via the website. Results: The results showed that nurses with a greater level of education felt most knowledgeable about biosimilars (χ2 = 105.813, df = 2, p < 0.001). One-third of nurses with a doctorate and a second degree said biosimilars are used in their workplace (χ2 = 48.169, df = 4, p < 0.001); most nurses with a second degree said that they had never heard of biosimilars (41%). Doctorate-level nurses thought knowledge is the key factor to increasing biosimilar uptake (97%). Conclusions: Nurses are not knowledgeable about biosimilars. Most would like to participate in training on biosimilars. This is a very important topic, because biosimilars are constantly evolving in medicine.

Temper the Specialist Nurses Heterogeneity in the Interest of Quality Practice and Mobility-18 EU Countries Study.

BACKGROUND: The position of the specialist nurse profession varies across the European Union. Action is required to address the challenges to promote mobility and the contribution of specialist nurses to quality of care. The purpose of the study is to identify the interfaces of the specialist nurse profession across the European Union. METHODS: A mixed method study was conducted in October 2019 and total of 40 answers from 18 different European Union countries were selected using a purposive sampling method. RESULTS: The participants had completed various Bologna degree cycles and 57.2% had followed a specific educational programme to become a specialist nurse. More professional autonomy was acquired by 81.9% participants. CONCLUSION: A striving for homogeneity in the interpretation of the specialist nurses role and competencies is needed to achieve better quality of care provision and facilitate their mobility around the European Union. The lack of recognition identified in this study should encourage nurse managers to consider specialist nurse roles with the aim of capitalizing on the advanced care and expertise that specialist nurses provide. These results are an opportunity to improve the specialist nurses profession with an ultimate impact on management practices of streamlined, cost-effective clinical services.