Overdose Risk Reduction Using Fentanyl Test Strips: Education for Nurse Practitioners

From 2015 to 2021, the number of fatal overdoses related to fentanyl quadrupled from less than 20,000 to over 70,000 deaths. Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are a harm reduction and low-cost method of drug checking equipment.

The purpose of this project is to provide education to nurse practitioners on the risk reduction strategy for the prevention of overdose deaths using FTS and incorporate this teaching method into their health care practices and patient education interventions.

An educational in-service was held at the Appalachian American Alliance of Nurse Practitioners annual conference. The education included a pretest, a 40-minute educational session, and a posttest survey was conducted upon completion of the education. Participants also reviewed state-specific legislation and regulatory information.

Forty-six participants completed the pretest, and 56 completed the posttest. After the educational intervention, the posttest responses showed significant improvement (p < .05 across all questions).

By providing education to nurse practitioners about the risk reduction strategy for overdose prevention using FTS, practitioners can incorporate harm reduction approaches into their routine health care practices and patient education interventions.