Teaching Those Who Care How to Care for a Person With Substance Use Disorder

Background Substance use disorder (SUD) is on the rise globally, and nurses are not prepared to care for this population. Purpose The purpose was to determine if a 4-hour antistigma intervention improved prelicensure student nurse attitudes and perceived stigma toward people with SUD. Methods This was a nonrandomized quasi-experimental survey study. Participants completed the 20-item Drug and Drug Problems Perception Questionnaire (DDPPQ), the 8-item Perceived Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale (PSAS), and the 13-item Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale at baseline and repeated the DDPPQ and PSAS postintervention. Paired t tests were used to determine the mean differences in the total DDPPQ and total PSAS scores. Results After the antistigma intervention, there was a significant improvement in overall therapeutic attitudes (t = 8.4, df = 108, P < .001) and perceived stigma (t = -2.5, df = 108, P = .01) in undergraduate nursing students (n = 126). Conclusions Incorporating antistigma educational approaches may lead to more involvement and compassionate care for people with SUD.