Date of Conferral

6-16-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Leslie Hussey

Abstract

Opioid abuse is a significant problem in the United States. People with opioid use disorder (OUD) visit the emergency room (ER) for pain management. OUD is the overuse and abuse of opioids, which can result in dependence, relapses, and death. Nurses in the ER and medical-surgical units face challenges in distinguishing OUD from chronic pain. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive phenomenological study, guided by Benner’s novice-to-expert framework, was to explore the lived experiences of ER and medical-surgical nurses who provide care to OUD patients. Eight ER and medical-surgical nurses were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The main themes from coding analysis were: (a) education and training, (b) drug-seeking behaviors, (c) resources, and (d) gaps in patient care. Findings may increase awareness of the challenges ER and medical-surgical nurses experience in providing care for patients with OUD and may support ER and medical-surgical nurses’ ability to deliver quality care. Recommendations for future research include a larger scale study to further explore how ER and medical surgical nurses assess patients with OUD and design education on assessing OUD patients to help nurses provide more effective care. Identifying nurses’ experiences and challenges suggests changes are needed to improve nurses’ knowledge on how to care for OUD patients which affects positive social change.

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