Integrating naloxone education into an undergraduate nursing course: Developing partnerships with a local department of health

Abstract

Background: Substance misuse continues to be a significant concern in the United States, with over 700,000 lives lost from a drug overdose between 1999 and 2017.However, nursing curricula have failed to keep pace with the epidemic. Methods:The current study used a pre-post study design and involved a convenience sample of undergraduate nursing students (n = 37) enrolled in a community health nursing course. Students completed an 11-item online survey examining naloxone stigma, naloxone self-efficacy, and naloxone knowledge. A paired sample t test was conducted to evaluate the impact of the in-person training and education event. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in post-intervention naloxone knowledge scores from the pre-survey (M = 3.57, SD = 0.959) to the post-survey (M = 4.70, SD = 0.520). Stigma toward naloxone demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the post-intervention stigma survey (M = 9.00, SD = 1.312) compared with the pre-intervention stigma survey (M = 7.78, SD = 2.228). Naloxone self-efficacy also demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the post-intervention naloxone efficacy survey (M = 10.08, SD = 1.064) compared with the pre-intervention naloxone efficacy scores (M = 7.38, SD = 2.22). Conclusions:The students' scores demonstrated a significant increase in naloxone knowledge, self-efficacy, and stigma. Future research is needed to explore the impact of integrating naloxone education in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. K E Y W O R D Sharm reduction, naloxone, nursing education, overdose prevention How to cite this article: Carter G, Caudill P. Integrating naloxone education into an undergraduate nursing course:Developing partnerships with a local department of health.

Awareness that cocaine can contain fentanyl among nightclub and festival attendees in New York City, 2018–2022

“…Second, given that this EDM venue‐attending population is becoming increasingly aware that they are at risk for unintentional exposure to fentanyl, it is important that such individuals are educated about naloxone which can reverse opioid overdoses. While formal education programs are likely not necessary, presenting individuals information about naloxone can lead to increased knowledge and self‐efficacy with respect to use (Carter & Caudill, 2020; Febres‐Cordero et al., 2022). Many US cities now have formal naloxone training courses and centers that provide free access to naloxone (Lambdin et al., 2020).…”

Stigma by Association: To what Extent is the Attitude Toward Naloxone Affected by the Stigma of Opioid Use Disorder?

“…Naloxone stigma is still undefined, despite its use in academic literature. 38-40 To define naloxone stigma within a scope applicable to patients, pharmacists, and prescribers, based on relevant studies, 17,20-23 the pertinent individual stigma variants, including perceived stigma (awareness) and personal stigma (agreement) are considered (Table 1). Self-stigma (concurrence) is only applicable to patients since they are “the stigmatized.” 34,36 Even then, this may be debatable because, unlike mental illness and OUD, 32,34,36,41 patients can choose to distance themselves from naloxone.…”

“…Furthermore, even when frameworks were defined, they were often inadequate in covering crucial elements of stigma as defined, and specific stigma variant-of-interest (Table 1) were neither stated nor defined. 38,40 This is not surprising because, while existing stigma scales (eg, mental illness) have often been adapted to measure related constructs, 42,84 none seemed to be amenable to a straightforward adaptation for naloxone since naloxone is neither a mental illness nor a treatment for such illnesses. Therefore, to date, there is no psychometrically validated instrument to measure naloxone stigma construct among the stakeholders' population (patients, pharmacists, and prescribers).…”