Substance Use Education in Canadian Nursing Programs: A Student Survey.

Background: In Canada, nursing programs have not kept pace with the growing rates and changing patterns of substance use.
Method: To get a sense of the current state of substance use education in nursing programs, we conducted a survey of nursing students.
Results: 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.
Conclusion: 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.].
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