CE: Reducing Bias Against People with Substance Use Disorders.

Addiction is a highly misunderstood and stigmatized chronic illness frequently encountered by health care providers during routine medical care. People with substance use disorders, in particular, face extraordinary stigma and bias when interacting with health care providers, including nurses. Stigma associated with addiction contributes to health inequities and is recognized as a significant barrier to people seeking and receiving necessary health care.

The Complexity of Educating Acute Care Nurses on Opioid Use Disorder: A Quality Improvement Project.

Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a public health crisis, yet most acute care nurses are not educated to deliver evidence-based OUD care. Hospitalization provides a unique opportunity to initiate and coordinate OUD care in people presenting for other medical-surgical reasons. The aim of this quality improvement project was to determine the impact of an educational program on self-reported competencies of medical-surgical nurses caring for people with OUD at a large academic medical center in the Midwestern United States.

Strain Among Caregivers of Older Adults Diagnosed With Breast Cancer.

Objectives: To illustrate the predictors of strain among caregivers of older adults diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sample & Setting: This study involved 39 women diagnosed with breast cancer who were aged 69 years or older, receiving any type of treatment, and seeking an initial assessment in a geriatric oncology program at a large cancer center in the midwestern United States and their caregivers.

Methods & Variables: This cross-sectional study evaluated relationships among the variables of caregiver strain, age, employment status, patient characteristics, and patient scores on the comprehensive geriatric assessment.

ADDING VFA TO DXA IDENTIFIES FRACTURE RISK IN A WAY NOT DUPLICATED BY OTHER MEASURES.

Objective: Published studies have demonstrated that adding vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) identifies more patients with increased fracture risk than DXA alone. But who needs VFA? This study attempts to determine if some test other than VFA could duplicate the additional information obtained by performing VFA on all first-time patients. This study looked at the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX), height loss, age, documented back pain, and nonvertebral fragility fractures.