Adam Searby, RN, PhD, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; President (DANA)
Abstract body:
According to the World Drug Report (2021) about 275 million people worldwide use drugs and over thirty-six million people suffer from drug use disorders. Alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco smoking collectively kill 11.8 million people each year around the globe which is more than the number of deaths caused by cancers worldwide. These findings make it clear that the international community needs to step up its responses to understand and confront these challenges and provide valid treatments for those with addiction.
The International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA), an specialist affiliate of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), seeks to leverage the role of nurses as a key professional as part of the response framework. In an effort to examine the pandemic concerns of substances that have raised the massive alarms and harms of addiction, members of IntNSA, representing Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Portugal, S. Africa, and the United States, will come together to discuss and present specifics within their respective countries regarding addictions. Panel members will share specific roles and interventions that nurses are engaged in in their respective countries, and their experience of what helps when it comes to substance use disorders.
Learning objectives :
Short presentations (15mins) by each panel member on the following:
Australia: Medically supervised injection clinics.
Brazil: The clinical practicum in addiction treatment facilities as a strategy to positively influence nursing students' attitudes and knowledge related to AUD
Canada: The nurse’s role in rapid access addiction medicine clinics.
England/UK: The relationship of infectious diseases and treatments of these in relationship with addictions.
Portugal: Harm reduction concepts in Portugal.
S. Africa: The need for addiction training and education of nurses encountering the health needs of patients with substance use disorders.
USA: Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT); the role of psychopharmacology in addictions treatment.