Outcomes of an Interprofessional Opioid Training Program for Graduate Students in Nursing and Social Work

ABSTRACT

Social workers and other behavioral health professionals trained to provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services for opioid use disorders (OUD) remain urgently needed in the U.S. particularly in states with widespread health professional shortage areas. To help mitigate this workforce gap, faculty in social work and nursing at a public university in Alabama developed and piloted an innovative HRSA-funded interprofessional traineeship to prepare graduate-level nursing and social work students to assess and treat opioid use disorders (OUD). The yearlong traineeship included specialized coursework on evidenced-based practice in addictions, interprofessional telemedicine and simulation training, and multi-semester field practica in outpatient treatment settings. Impact of the pilot training was evaluated using a pre-experimental one group design. Baseline and post-training surveys assessed knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to OUD and interprofessional practice and perceived program impact. Significant increases were observed for trainees’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Moreover, at graduation students reported that the traineeship had improved their abilities to interact with underserved populations, collaborate interprofessionally, and understand ethical issues in SUD treatment as well as enhancing their professional competence, clinical problem-solving, and health workforce skills. Findings suggest that the interprofessional training program may prepare social work and nursing graduate students to effectively serve clients with OUD and help to address a critical workforce gap in medically underserved communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional practice
• education
• opioids
• addictions
• behavioral health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Environmentally disadvantaged students are those who were inhibited from obtaining the knowledge, skill, and abilities required to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school; Economically disadvantaged students came from a family with an annual income below low-income thresholds according to federal guidelines.

2. The question for social work trainees read “I understand the role that nurses plan when part of an interprofessional team”

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) [grant number: 1 T98HP33420-01-00].