2022-2023 Grant in Aid of Research
Increasing the Mental Health Nursing Competencies of Nurses Caring for Patients with History of Substance Use Disorder in Long Term Care Settings.
Nancyver Lafleur-Omeler
While nurses are often on the front lines of working with patients with a history of substance use disorders (SUD), most have limited training in this area. Nurses who work in Long Term Care (LTC) settings are often challenged to resolve the practical issue of having insufficient competency in caring for SUD patients. Horner et al. (2019) agreed that the deficiency of mental health knowledge and skills in healthcare workers is linked to decreased quality of care, which can diminish patient outcomes. This lack of competency needs to be addressed (Margoliese & Vandyck, 2019). This pre/post-quasi-experimental study aims improving the mental health nursing competency of nurses working with SUD patients at the geriatric units at a Psychiatric Hospital in MA.
The Clinical Competency of Mental Health Nurses (CCMHN) tool assessed the nurses&mental health competency before and after the educational training on how to care for SUD patients. Four weekly videos and PowerPoint modules were emailed to the 21 nurses working in these two units at the Psychiatric Hospital. The training explained the neurobiology behind SUD, introduced screening tools related to drug and alcohol use; reviewed more detailed substance use, medical, and psychiatric assessment considerations; demonstrated effective strategies for brief interventions; and discussed considerations for treatment referrals. Several studies proved that educational intervention in SUD would improve the nurses’ competencies (Farell, 2020). The goal is to innovate care management that enhances SUD patients’ care through clinical competencies and mental health skills. The conclusion of this study will soon be available.