Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment: Nurses Helping Colorado Training Program

Nurses Helping Colorado was a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration-funded program to train nurses on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), a research-based strategy for preventing substance use disorders.

Trainees were 678 undergraduate nursing students and 480 graduate advanced practice nursing students at an academic medical center. Training included classroom lectures, role-play simulation, and supervised practice. The program was evaluated using participant self-reports immediately posttraining, 3 to 12 months later, and postgraduation.

Trainees reported high satisfaction, increased knowledge, and willingness to use SBIRT. Gains were maintained after training. After students graduated, 52% used screening, 52% offered brief interventions, and 37% used referral to treatment. Results were higher than those for past graduates, and most were higher than community benchmarks.

When SBIRT training was woven through nursing curricula, students demonstrated learning and used these methods in practice after graduation. SBIRT education is appropriate across the lifespan and across settings in nursing. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(8):476-482.].