Improving the Screening for Substance Use Disorders in Emergency Department Patients: A Quality Improvement Project
Authors
Bakken, Madison
Issue Date
2021-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS::Caring sciences::Nursing , Substance Use Disorders , Emergency Services , Electronic Health Records , Health Screening
Alternative Title
Description/Abstract
This quality improvement project aimed to connect emergency department (ED) patients with substance use disorders (SUD) to community resources for assistance with treatment options. This was achieved by promoting the screening of patients as they presented to the ED by the nurses. This project was conducted through a system change that introduced an information card about the community resources to the ED for distribution to patients with positive SUD screenings. This system change also included modifications to the electronic health record (EHR) that allowed the nurses to document when the information card was offered to patients. An in-service session describing the system change was held for the nurses and included education on SUD screening and strategies to approaching this topic with patients. The outcomes for this project were measured through chart reviews and a qualitative analysis collected from the nurses on the system change.