Nursing Students' Use of Harm Reduction in the Clinical Setting

Abstract

Background: The use and awareness of harm reduction education strategies are missing from nursing care of people with substance use disorder (SUD). Purpose: To determine whether targeted training improved nursing students' application of harm reduction education in the clinical setting. Methods: This was an experimental 2-group repeated-measures survey study. Nursing students in a baccalaureate program received targeted training for 3 semesters. Training included presentations by people with lived experience, an addiction-trained physician, and a role-play exercise. Students received harm reduction education and reported on the application of this education. Results: Students in the traditional track cared for more people with SUD than students in the accelerated track. Referral for treatment was the most common education provided, and information related to injection drug use was the least commonly taught education. Conclusions: Targeted training increased the number of harm reduction options nursing students presented to people with SUD in the clinical setting.

Nursing harm reduction education and care for people who use drugs or who engage in sex work

“…There are several implications from this study for the develop- survey completed at the end of each of the following three semesters (Dion et al, 2023). By the end of the third semester, 69% of students described providing harm reduction education to PWUD at least once (Dion et al, 2023).…”

“…There are several implications from this study for the development of future research. Building off existing research (Denis‐Lalonde et al., 2019; Dion et al., 2023; Gagnon et al., 2020; H. Ma & Loke, 2020), future researchers could develop a valid and reliable survey instrument to assess harm reduction among practicing nurses. In this study, nurses who graduated from a BSN program outside the U.S. and before the 1980s did not state they received harm reduction education.…”

“…Education on harm reduction aligns with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) subdomains of promoting self‐care in the person‐centered care domain, considering the impact of health care in the population health domain, and inclusion in professional identity in the professionalism domain (AACN, 2021). Evidence of harm reduction for PWUD has been taught in a BSN program during the first clinical semester using a 4‐h training session, followed by an evaluation survey completed at the end of each of the following three semesters (Dion et al., 2023). By the end of the third semester, 69% of students described providing harm reduction education to PWUD at least once (Dion et al., 2023).…”

“…In Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs, harm reduction education for PWUD and PESW is not always included (Dion et al., 2023). Research on Canadian nursing students’ perceptions of their education on substance use found approximately 20% stated not receiving education on substance use and 35% stated they had limited knowledge to perform nursing assessments on PWUD (Gagnon et al., 2020).…”

“…Research on Hong Kong nursing students’ perceptions of their sex work education found approximately 86% stated not receiving sex work education and only 3% stated they had knowledge to care for PESW (H. Ma & Loke, 2020). However, in a study that trained BSN students in harm reduction, researchers found students who received the training provided harm reduction care to PWUD at least 50% of the time (Dion et al., 2023). The purposes of this study were to describe whether nurses received harm reduction education in their BSN programs; whether nurses are practicing harm reduction when caring for PWUD and PESW; and strategies for integrating harm reduction within nursing curriculum.…”