Substance Use Education in Canadian Nursing Programs: A Student Survey

In Canada, nursing programs have not kept pace with the growing rates and changing patterns of substance use.

To get a sense of the current state of substance use education in nursing programs, we conducted a survey of nursing students.

Our findings indicate that (a) substance use education is minimal, 1 to 5 hours (43%) or none (20%); (b) students had more working knowledge of legal and prescribed substances than illegal ones; (c) of 22 content areas deemed essential for practice, only seven were covered; (d) students were able to identify statements consistent with a harm reduction philosophy despite limited substance use education; and (e) the majority of students wrongfully believed that illegal substances are more harmful than legal substances.

Our findings demonstrate that substance use education in nursing programs is largely insufficient and not keeping up with current issues. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(9):510-513.].