Nurses' Perspective of Challenges and Treatment When Caring for Patients With Substance Use Disorder and Their Families

There is a high individual, family, community, and societal cost to substance use disorder (SUD). However, the real cost is the loss of lives. Nurses have an important role in combating the SUD epidemic. Nurses work in a variety of settings and have opportunities to interact with patients and families experiencing SUDs. These findings are part of a larger qualitative study that examined nurses’ personal and professional experiences in caring for people with SUD and their families. This article reports on the nurses’ experiences of challenges faced, treatment opportunities, and advice for nurses. After research board approval, nurses who had experience caring for patients with SUD and their families were recruited using purposive sampling. Individual, semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted with nurses who worked in the following settings: emergency room, obstetrics, medical-surgical unit, pediatric intensive care unit, behavior/mental health, and home health. The interviews were audio recorded. Verified, deidentified transcripts were uploaded to NVivo 14. Thematic analysis was conducted concurrently with data collection until saturation was reached. The data were coded by two researchers independently, and coded text was discussed until a consensus was reached. Themes were described and supported by exemplars from the coded text. Findings contribute to the understanding of the nurses’ challenges when caring for persons with SUD and their families and advice for other nurses. Additional research surrounding health care provider education, policy changes, and financial support are critical next steps.