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.

Beyond the Buzzword: A Concept Analysis of Harm Reduction.

Background And Purpose: Harm reduction is a concept that is increasingly applied in health and social care, as well as law and policy development around the world. Despite being used in a variety of contexts for decades, there is no universal understanding of harm reduction, and this may interfere with its implementation in various settings. Using Rodgers' (1989) evolutionary approach to concept analysis, this article defines the key attributes of harm reduction, along with surrogate terms, relevant uses, antecedents, consequences, related concepts, a model case, and implications for practice.