Date of Conferral
5-19-2025
Date of Award
May 2025
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Stacy Lourie
Abstract
This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project is a staff education project focused on enhancing healthcare providers’ knowledge of managing opioid use disorder (OUD) through medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in a primary care setting. The practice problem focuses on the lack of provider knowledge and persistent misconceptions about MAT. Primary care providers often feel ill-equipped to manage OUD, due to inadequate formal training and report insufficient understanding of MAT medications, regulatory requirements, and patient management strategies, contributing to underutilization of MAT, even in settings where patient need is high. Given the ongoing opioid epidemic and the important role that primary care providers play in comprehensive care, this educational intervention is both timely and critical. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on improving healthcare providers’ knowledge and readiness to implement MAT for OUD in primary care. The project aimed to address identified gaps in provider training, enhance clinical competency in MAT, and support the integration of evidence-based practices for managing OUD within the organization. A pre- and post-test design was used to evaluate changes in knowledge among 20 healthcare providers. These 20 providers completed a 10-question multiple-choice assessment before and after a brief PowerPoint presentation. Findings indicated an overall improvement in knowledge with the average score increasing from 8.25 (pre-test) to 9.35 (post-test). Of the 20 participants, 16 demonstrated knowledge improvement following the educational presentation. This project supports providers to better serve patients affected by OUD with empathy and evidence-based care.
Recommended Citation
Doyle, Genean Marie, "Educational Program Focused on Medication-Assisted Treatment to Improve Healthcare Providers’ Knowledge of Managing Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care Setting" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17819.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17819
