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.