Abstract
The opioid and SUD epidemic drives a need to dramatically increase treatment opportunities, yet there is a dearth of practitioners who feel comfortable and competent in this area. And there are not enough specialists. To address this, we have developed an elective, online, asynchronous course for Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Work, and Public Health housed within a DNP program at UW School of Nursing. Course content includes concepts of trauma-informed practice (and education), stigma, etc., and are woven throughout the course. Use of telehealth simulation scenarios served to prepare students for therapeutic patient interactions and to practice skills of motivational interviewing and reducing stigma. Strong interest in this elective course quickly became apparent through immediately robust registration, requiring an expansion of roster capacity from 50 to 75 students. Future plans exist to offer course content as CE to practitioners post-licensure, and introduce content in undergraduate (prelicensure) nursing education.
Notes
References:
1. Anderson, M., & Clarkson, G. (2024). Nurse Practitioner Student Education: A Pre–Post Survey Study of Substance Use Disorder Competency. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 20(1), 104846.
2. Madras, B. K., Ahmad, N. J., Wen, J., Sharfstein, J., & Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Working Group of the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic. (2020). Improving access to evidence-based medical treatment for opioid use disorder: Strategies to address key barriers within the treatment system. NAM Perspectives, Discussion Paper. National Academy of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.31478/202004b
3. McNeely, J., Schatz, D., Olfson, M., Appleton, N., & Williams, A. R. (2022). How physician workforce shortages are hampering the response to the opioid crisis. Psychiatric Services, 73(5), 547–554. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000565
4. Tsai, A. C., Kiang, M. V., Barnett, M. L., Beletsky, L., & Keyes, K. M. (2019). Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response. PLOS Medicine, 16(11), e1002969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002969
5. Wright, M. E., Parker, V., Demosthenes, L. D., Stevens, M. L., & Litwin, A. H. (2022). Changing nurse practitioner students’ perceptions regarding substance use disorder. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 18(1), 81-85.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Keywords:
Interprofessional, Interdisciplinary, Simulation, Public and Community Health, Substance Use Disorder, SUD, SUD Treatment, SUD Management Course, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Students
Recommended Citation
Weatherton, Noah; Kantrowitz-Gordon, Ira; Hoge, Natalie; and Abdulsater, Batoul, "Increasing Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment Through Interdisciplinary Education" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 166.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/166
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Increasing Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment Through Interdisciplinary Education
Seattle, Washington, USA
The opioid and SUD epidemic drives a need to dramatically increase treatment opportunities, yet there is a dearth of practitioners who feel comfortable and competent in this area. And there are not enough specialists. To address this, we have developed an elective, online, asynchronous course for Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Work, and Public Health housed within a DNP program at UW School of Nursing. Course content includes concepts of trauma-informed practice (and education), stigma, etc., and are woven throughout the course. Use of telehealth simulation scenarios served to prepare students for therapeutic patient interactions and to practice skills of motivational interviewing and reducing stigma. Strong interest in this elective course quickly became apparent through immediately robust registration, requiring an expansion of roster capacity from 50 to 75 students. Future plans exist to offer course content as CE to practitioners post-licensure, and introduce content in undergraduate (prelicensure) nursing education.
Description
This oral presentation will share the beginning-to-end process of needs assessment, course development, and rollout of a grad-level SUD management course for interdisciplinary health science students. Participants will understand this courses' impact on reducing stigma and increasing competency in the treatment and management of several SUDs for students in training, as well as future possibilities for this content to reach a broader audience.