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I think going through this course I realized that sometimes in my head I do stereotype patients. As much as I know how bad it is, sometimes it’s hard to stop yourself from automatically assuming things because a lot of times you do it and don’t even know it. I think this can tie into something I have learned that I will adopt into my nursing practice. Throughout this course I realized that addiction can happen to anyone and you don’t know what they went through or are going through that makes them turn to drugs. There are definitely certain risk factors that make it easier for someone to become addicted, but at the end of the day it can happen to anyone no matter what race, your financial status, job, or neighborhood. I will take this into my nursing practice by being more aware of my thoughts. I think this will help me build a better relationships with patients and therefore give better care to them. Instead of judging them for addiction I know that it is just like any other disease process we treat and take care of in the hospital. I found the Swiss Cheese Model for addiction very interesting. I think it was a great analogy to help understand addiction .There is not just one factor that leads to addiction, there are many and if all those factors happen or if all the “holes line up”  then one will become addicted. I think I found it most uncomfortable that most nurses are not trained or educated on how to properly care for patients with substance use disorder. This is a very prevalent disease so I found it very surprising that nurses may not have been taught how to care for them.

I think the main barrier being insufficient nursing support was a bit shocking to me. As the podcast went on it began to make more sense as I learned that in nursing school we don’t get properly trained and taught about addiction or substance use disorder, so nurses don’t know how to properly care for those patients. I immediately just think of nurses always being so caring and understanding because that is usually the main reason we go into this profession, but if we aren’t educated on this it makes sense. I think this also ties into the nursing management model. It will be successful if more nurses are properly trained on how to care for substance use patients. By doing so it will integrate this disease into the health field more. It can be looked at as a normal disease just like anything else you would go to the doctor with. I think this will help with the stigma of substance use disorder. It will also help patients because they will have more resources available of people to turn to for help when more nurses are trained because they won’t just have NP’s, PA’s, or physicians, they will also have nurses. Building a team to help treat them will have a better outcome for the patient.  Also since there are starting to be more people in advanced practice roles and not physicians it is even more important that these people get certified or trained. The training is longer which may deter some people from doing so. I think I could see myself working in this type of nursing role, but I would want to work there forever. I think it would be a great learning experience for not only nursing but also life. I think I am very understanding and like to listen to others and help them, so this role could work for me. I know addiction affects everyone and not just specific populations which is a main reason I’d like to help would be to get rid of the stigma. They should be treated just like any other patient would be treated.

I think healthcare professionals could look at both patients with substance use and patients with chronic disease, such as heart disease or diabetes as a choice. Patients who don’t live a healthy lifestyle by eating right and working out are at a higher risk for developing heart disease or diabetes, so some doctors may not treat them with as much respect or care because they think this could’ve been prevented by their life choices. This could also be said about those with substance use disorders. Some people often forget that addiction is a disease and that you can be biologically predisposed to addiction, so caregivers may also treat them the way they were to treat chronic patients, with less respect because they believe it was preventable.

On the other hand, I think caregivers could treat patients with substance use disorders and chronic conditions differently. They may think of the patients with a chronic condition as an actual disease and illness and care for them better. If a patient is experiencing symptoms from a chronic disease a healthcare provider may easily prescribe them medicine to help treat their symptoms, while if a patient of substance use was experiencing symptoms a healthcare provider may just ignore them. I think this happens often with patients of substance use disorders especially with treating pain. The doctor may not know if they are drug seeking and saying they are in pain or in actual pain. If a patient with chronic illness said they were in pain, the doctor will most likely willingly treat their pain. If someone has not personally experienced addiction or have had family or friends with it I think it’s often times hard to sympathize and relate to what they are going through and realize its an actual illness.

I think the stigma patients with substance use disorder face is that it is choice, but in reality people are biologically predisposed to have addiction. I think healthcare providers sometimes forget this and treat the patient with judgement and less respect. With addiction it usually can cause issues with work, family, or relationships which usually pushes people away, so you don’t have a strong support system to begin with. Most times to overcome it you need treatment, rehab, and a strong support system to get you through it, but because it pushes a lot of people away this doesn’t happen a lot of times. On top of that, addiction can be very expensive so you may not be able to afford treatment or afford to properly take care of yourself. I think a struggle a lot of substance abusers face is pain management and illness in the hospital. Healthcare providers may not believe the patient if they are actually in pain or sick and therefore not treat them or prescribe them medications. Healthcare providers just assume they are drug seeking and don’t want to feed into their addiction. I think people on the care team have to assess and pay close attention to their patients and be able to realize if there is a change in the patient’s status or in pain.

In the media Breaking Bad shows examples of the stigma with addiction. They make one of the main characters, Jessie Pinkman, to seem like a deadbeat and dumb person. I think this translates to real life because a lot of people think this about substance abusers because they see what they are doing to their life and judge them. I think to help combat this issue of the stigma against substance abusers all healthcare providers should have to take a learning module before they work addressing this. The module could educate people on substance abuse and how to properly care for them.

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