Date of Conferral

8-18-2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Julibeth Lauren

Abstract

Summary In this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project, I selected a staff education as the best intervention to improve staff knowledge in using exercise to treat anxiety disorders in adult patients at a recovery clinic for addiction. Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among individuals undergoing substance abuse treatment, often exacerbating withdrawal symptoms and increasing relapse risks; thus, integrating the use of exercise in addition to existing standard care for anxiety treatment in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) will lead to decreased anxiety, decreased alcohol use and drug cravings, improved quality of life and affect, increased abstinence, and improve overall clinical outcomes. The practice-focused question for the DNP project was: Does providing staff education on the evidence and benefits of including exercise in the treatment plan for adults diagnosed with anxiety disorders enhance staff knowledge to encourage the integration of exercise as part of the treatment for anxiety. Pre-and post- knowledge assessments were the descriptive and comparative analytical strategies used in this doctoral project to ascertain the outcomes of the staff education. The assessments showed that 100% of the clinical team were trained and that the staff education improved their knowledge on the use of exercise to treat anxiety in patients with addiction problems. Other recommended tools to assess the benefits of exercise in treating anxiety disorders include using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and staff use of exercise and patient participation logs. The potential implications include improved staff knowledge and improved patient outcomes in the addiction clinic.

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