A descriptive study of alcohol and other drug abuse elements in nursing curricula

Abstract

Alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse and impaired practice have been a growing problem in the nursing profession and often began while the person attended nursing school. The majority of programs have covered AOD abuse as separate disease entities, with primary reference to physiologic and toxic effects on the client, not the nurse, usually in the psychiatric nursing unit or related to specific medical-surgical conditions. Despite an abundance of literature on AOD abuse and published AOD abuse curricula, little uniformity has existed in amount or quality of content presented. Most basic nursing programs have included little encouraging graduate or student nurses to examine personal risk traits and behaviors, even though the recently published curricula included information for the professional. Thus, a discrepancy has existed between what some of the experts saw as the important curricular topics related to AOD abuse and what has actually been taught. The purpose of this study was to determine what nursing curriculum elements related to AOD abuse were seen as important and essential by faculty responsible for basic Texas nursing programs. All basic nursing programs (vocational, associate degree, diploma, and baccalaureate) in Texas were mailed a survey questionnaire to determine curricular elements actually taught related to AOD abuse, and how important or essential those elements were perceived by the responsible faculty (e.g. 1=not essential, not needed; 2=unfamiliar content, unsure if needed; 3= good content to include, not essential; 4=essential content). Other questions included how much time was spent on AOD abuse content, and what resources were available or needed to better address AOD abuse content. Content validity of the questionnaire was determined by a varied panel of experts, including university professors, addictions nurses, and nurse educators...