Chaos Ensues on the First Day of Medication Assisted Treatment—Trying to Do Too Much

Abstract

At our nurse-led clinic, a federally qualified health center, we practice the Collaborative Care Model. We serve a community that has been severely damaged by the opiate epidemic, and as a team, we decided to start including Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opiate addiction into our practice, with family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and psychiatric mental health NPs (PMHNPs) obtaining their MAT waivers. Bernard Vonderhaar, DNP, PMHNP-BC, is an adjunct clinical instructor, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, and can be contacted at [email protected] . Letter to the EditorThe Journal for Nurse PractitionersVol. 16Issue 7PreviewWe write in response to the “In My Opinion” commentary in the March 2020 issue of JNP: “Chaos Ensues on the First Day of Medication Assisted Treatment—Trying to Do Too Much,” by Dr Vonderhaar.1 We commend Dr Vonderhaar’s team for adding Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) to their primary care services. We are also providers at a Federally Qualified Health Center and would like to offer an alternative view of MAT treatment initiation from the perspective of a clinic with a well-established MAT practice. Full-Text PDF