NCSBN Makes Substance Use Disorder Educational Courses Free to Nurses and Nursing Students

NCSBN Makes Substance Use Disorder Educational Courses Free to Nurses and Nursing Students

Media Contact:
Dawn M. Kappel
Director, Marketing & Communications
312.525.3667 direct
312.279.1034 fax
dkappel@ncsbn.org

Chicago – The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Board of Directors (BOD) voted to provide NCSBN courses “Understanding Substance Use Disorder in Nursing” and “Nurse Manager Guidelines for Substance Use Disorder” free of charge for all nurses and nursing students.

NCSBN BOD President Katherine Thomas, MN, RN, FAAN, executive director, Texas Board of Nursing, comments, “The chronic and complex disease of substance use disorder (SUD) is an issue of importance to U.S. boards of nursing because of the potential harm to patient welfare. Cognizant of the opioid crisis and substance use disorder’s societal impact, NCSBN is responding to the American Public Health Association’s call to action to implement evidence-based provider training programs in substance use disorder.”

NCSBN’s SUD toolkit, brochures, posters, a book and two continuing education (CE) courses. was developed to assure that nurses are armed with knowledge to help identify the warning signs of SUD in patients, nurses and the general public and provide guidelines for prevention, education and intervention.

Now all of these resources are available free of charge from www.ncsbn.org. Both CE courses award contact hours upon successful completion. Register for the courses at www.learningext.com. In addition the toolkit includes the “Substance Use Disorder in Nursing” resource manual, the “Substance Use Disorder in Nursing” video, prevention-focused posters for health care facilitates and two brochures, “What You Need to Know About Substance Use Disorder in Nursing” and “A Nurse Manager’s Guide to Substance Use Disorder in Nursing.”

About NCSBN
Founded March 15, 1978, as an independent not-for-profit organization, NCSBN was created to lessen the burdens of state governments and bring together boards of nursing (BONs) to act and counsel together on matters of common interest. NCSBN’s membership is comprised of the BONs in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. There are also 27 associate members that are either nursing regulatory bodies or empowered regulatory authorities from other countries or territories.

NCSBN Member Boards protect the public by ensuring that safe and competent nursing care is provided by licensed nurses. These BONs regulate more than 4.5 million licensed nurses.

Mission: NCSBN provides education, service and research through collaborative leadership to promote evidence-based regulatory excellence for patient safety and public protection.

The statements and opinions expressed are those of NCSBN and not the individual member state or territorial boards of nursing.