Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Education for Emergency Nurses in 5 Hospitals: Implementation Steps and Hurdles

Abstract

The World Health Organization reported that mental and substance use disorders will surpass all physical diseases by 2020. 1 World Health Organization Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice. http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/en/promoting_mhh.pdf Google Scholar More than 23.5 million individuals (9.4%) aged 12 years or older have been identified as needing treatment for substance use problems, yet only 2.3 million (<10%) received care. 2 Leading change: a plan for SAMHSA’s roles and actions 2011–2014. http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA11-4629 Google Scholar , 3 Office of Applied Studies. Results from the 2008 national survey on drug use and health: national findings. NSDUH Series H-36, HHS Publication No. SMA 09–4434. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Web site. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Published 2009. Accessed May 9, 2014. Google Scholar Furthermore, the total estimated societal costs of substance abuse in the United States amount to approximately $510.8 billion annually. 2 Leading change: a plan for SAMHSA’s roles and actions 2011–2014. http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA11-4629 Google Scholar , 4 Miller T Hendrie D Substance Abuse Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD2009 Google Scholar Such alarming statistics regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems are compounded by the untold deleterious impact of substance misuse on the lives of individuals, families, communities, and society. Excessive alcohol use accounted for approximately 88,000 deaths per year from 2006 to 2010 and accounted for 1 in 10 deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 years. 5 CDC features, data & statistics Alcohol deaths. http://www.cdc.gov/features/alcohol-deaths Google Scholar This impact has garnered the attention of health professionals who are escalating assessment skills and services to individuals regarding harmful AOD use. 6 Hankin A Daugherty M Bethea A Haley L The emergency department as a prevention site: a demographic analysis of substance use among ED patients. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013; 130: 230-233 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (29) Google Scholar , 7 Ong-Flaherty C Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment: a nursing perspective. J Emerg Nurs. 2012; 38: 54-56 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar , 8 Désy P Perhats C Alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral in the emergency department: an implementation study. J Emerg Nurs. 2008; 34: 11-19 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (52) Google Scholar , 9 Désy P Howard PK Perhats C Li S Alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment conducted by emergency nurses: an impact evaluation. J Emerg Nurs. 2010; 36: 538-545 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar , 10 Barnard S Implementing an SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment) program in the emergency department: challenges and rewards. J Emerg Nurs. 2009; 35: 561-563 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar , 11 Vadlamudi RS Adams S Hogan B Wu T Wahid Z Nurses’ attitudes, beliefs, and confidence levels regarding care for those who abuse alcohol: impact of educational intervention. Nurse Educ Pract. 2008; 8: 290-298 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar , 12 Gonzalez Castro F Garginkel J Critical issues in the development of culturally relevant substance abuse treatments for specific minority groups. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2003; 27: 1381-1388 Crossref PubMed Scopus (42) Google Scholar Irene Kane is Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA. Ann M. Mitchell is Professor of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA. James Aiello is Project Associate, Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions, Pittsburgh, PA. Holly Hagle is Director, National SBIRT Addiction Technology and Transfer Center and Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions, Pittsburgh, PA. Dawn Lindsay is Director of Evaluation Services, Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions, Pittsburgh, PA. Kimberly S. Talcott is ELITE and SBIRT Project Manager, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA. Lynn Boucek is SBIRT Project Associate, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA.