Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

 

DNP Project Abstract

Training Nurse Practitioners (NPs) on the Use of Recovery Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Purpose
To increase number of NPs within the Rogers Behavioral Health (RBH) regional clinic system that are certified in medication assisted treatment (MAT)/opioid agonist therapy for the treatment of OUD from: 5/14 or 36% to 8/14 or 57% by June 20, 2022 in the PHP/IOP Regional Clinics.

Methods
6 NPs were provided with resources to assist them in their independent-learning of the treatment of OUDs using recovery medications. Data was collected via pre and post survey. Data was paired via a pre and post-intervention survey. Measures included: willingness to prescribe recovery medications, confidence with addiction or OUD populations, demonstration of knowledge, # of waiver hours completed, perceived competence, and willingness to be an attending for an addiction program.

Results
The results of this study revealed a need for further training, education, and stigma reduction surrounding OUD. Upon completion of the short implementation phase, none of the NPs completed more than 50% of the material and 3/6 or 50% the NPs had not started the 24-hours waiver training. Qualitative results revealed a desire for more hands-on training and supervision with an experienced addiction provider.

Implications for Practice
Further education and support is necessary to effectively increase confidence and competence when working with this population. Despite exposure to this training, NPs continued to express stigma and negative views towards treating this population. The NP who completed the most waiver training had the best improvement in change scores. Case consultation, supervision/collaboration, and shadowing/hands-on experience with this population may improve relevant measures.