Ready, willing, and able: California college campus law enforcement officers' respond to the opioid overdose attitudes scale.

BackgroundCollege campus police departments are providing law enforcement officers the authority to administer naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose. This study explored the competence, concerns, and readiness among college campus-based law enforcement officers in Northern California to administer naloxone in case of an opioid overdose on campus. METHODS: Using a quantitative, cross sectional design, law enforcement officers from seven Northern California college campus-based police departments were recruited for this study. Participants completed sociodemographic information and the Opioid Overdose Attitudes Scale (OOAS) electronically. RESULTS: Forty law enforcement officers completed questionnaires. Findings suggested officers were ready and willing to assist opioid overdose victims, had sufficient naloxone administration training, and were not concerned with consequences of precipitating withdrawal symptoms or harm to a student after administering naloxone. CONCLUSIONS: College campus-based law enforcement officers had positive attitudes regarding handling opioid overdose situations and felt mostly comfortable administering naloxone.

Experiences of critical care nurses during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses have risked their lives and in some cases their families through hazardous duty during the COVID-19 pandemic and have faced multiple ethical challenges. RESEARCH/AIM: The purpose of our study was to examine how critical care nurses coped with the sustained multi-faceted pressures of the critical care environment during the unchartered waters of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was anticipated that our study might reveal numerous ethical challenges and decision points. RESEARCH DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive study, utilizing an interpretivist paradigm. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH SETTING: Critical care nurses, working in either intensive care units or emergency departments (N = 11) who were primarily from Northern California hospitals. Individual in-depth ZOOM® session interviews, guided by semi-structured questions, were used to collect data. Interviews lasted between 18 and 59 min, with an average length of 33 min. Session interviews were transcribed and analyzed. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was approved by the researchers' university Institutional Review Board. FINDINGS: Five main themes emerged: Fear of the Unknown, Adapting to Practice Changes and Challenges, Patient Advocacy and Moral Distress, Isolation and the Depersonalization of Care, and Professionalism and a Call to Duty. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Fear of becoming ill or bringing COVID-19 home to their families was a constant source of anxiety for nurses. There were numerous changes in policy and challenges to standard practice protocols, including most notably shortages in personal protective equipment, which nurses navigated resourcefully. Most nurses interviewed were motivated by a sense of professional duty. The nurses experienced some moral distress in their inability to advocate as they might like for their patients, especially at end of life. Infection control requirements for isolation.

Experiences of Opioid Use Disorder Patients Receiving Buprenorphine Through a Telehealth Program.

BACKGROUND: Opioid use disorder (OUD) continues to be a growing and major public health issue in the United States. In an effort to increase OUD treatment access, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine via telehealth is emerging as the leading treatment option. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to describe the experiences of adults with OUD receiving medication-assisted treatment buprenorphine in a nurse-practitioner-facilitated telehealth program. METHODS: Using a descriptive qualitative design, convenience sampling was used to recruit participants who were currently receiving OUD treatment in one telehealth program with locations in California and Michigan. Participants were invited to participate in the study via an email flyer sent to all clients of the telehealth program. Participants completed demographic data and took part in individual, semistructured interviews that were conducted online. RESULTS: The study sample included 15 largely White, married, college-educated men (n = 8, 53%) and women (n = 7, 47%). Qualitative content analysis of interview data revealed three overall themes and associated subthemes: (a) improved access to care, (b) isolation, and (c) feeling normal on buprenorphine. CONCLUSION: Our findings support a nurse-practitioner-facilitated telehealth treatment program for OUD. However, in a program that offers patient-centered care that does not have a one-size-fits-all approach to service, goals of care must be reevaluated throughout treatment. Moreover, given the increased risk of patients feeling isolated with telehealth appointments and the lack of physical face-to-face interactions, healthcare providers should explore ways to engage patients in meaningful support resources and reduce stigma.