Preparing Advanced Practice Registered Nursing Students to Deliver Adolescent SBIRT for Substance Use

BACKGROUND: Adolescent substance use is a significant public health problem in the United States screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) and is an evidence-based approach to assist individuals to reduce substance use before serious problems develop. Universal SBIRT is recommended for routine health care. METHOD: Advanced practice registered nursing (APRN) students completed a sophisticated adolescent SBIRT computer simulation, didactic content on substance use, and face-to-face simulation during laboratory. SBIRT skills were scored automatically by the computer program. Self-perceived competency and confidence were measured via pre- and postsurvey items, focused on adolescent SBIRT skills, using ordinal scales. RESULTS: Adolescent SBIRT was successfully integrated into an advanced health assessment nursing course. Improvements in self-reported competence and confidence scores were noted across all domains at p < .001. CONCLUSION: APRN students demonstrated learning and reported marked increases in competency and confidence in the delivery of adolescent SBIRT. This reveals promising results for SBIRT to be implemented into APRN student coursework. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(12):736-741.].