Alcohol and drug education in schools of nursing

Studies examining alcohol and drug education in schools of nursing were reviewed A paucity of investigations was noted and most evaluations possessed significant methodologic shortcomings. Schools of nursing generally provided minimal Exposure to important concepts in the addictions. Few classroom hours were dedicated to alcohol and drug issues and individual courses devoted to substance use disorders were uncommon. Clinical training was a particularly neglected area. Neither the scope nor intensity of clinical instruction was sufficient to ensure that graduating nurses could effectively intervene with chemically dependent patients. Other findings suggested that drug education receives less attention than alcohol education and that schools of nursing provide less chemical dependency training than medical and other professional schools.