Nursing Attitudes Toward Patients With Substance Use Disorders: A Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of an Educational Workshop.

BACKGROUND Negative healthcare provider attitudes toward patients with substance use disorder (SUD) may adversely impact the quality of care and treatment outcomes. PURPOSE In this article, we aim to characterize the effects of an 8-hour educational workshop on attitudes toward patients with SUD among nurses from an urban inpatient psychiatric hospital. METHODS The Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire, a 22-item scale consisting of six subscales, was used to assess nurse attitudes to patients with SUD at pretest (n = 38), posttest (n = 36), and 30-day follow-up (n = 20). Generalized estimating equation models adjusted for gender and years of work experience were used to measure changes in Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire scores. RESULTS Positive attitudes significantly increased at posttest (β = -12.09, 95%CI [-16.83, -7.34]; p < .001) and were sustained at 30-day follow-up (β = 1.71, 95% CI [-3.11, 6.53]; p = .49). Subscales of motivation (β = -0.26, 95% CI [-0.87, 0.35]; p = .41) and task-specific self-esteem (β = -0.56, 95% CI [-1.44, 0.32]; p = .21) did not significantly change at posttest. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show workshop effectiveness in improving nurse attitudes toward patients with SUD. Future research may test similar interventions at a larger scale and with other health professionals.