Education to Increase Anesthesia Providers’ Confidence Recognizing Signs of Substance Use Disorder

Abstract

Purpose. This project aims to create an educational presentation with the development and introduction of the A.W.A.R.E. series of visual aids to increase anesthesia providers' knowledge and confidence in their ability to identify the signs and behaviors of substance use disorder among anesthesia providers.Background. Substance use disorder affects healthcare providers at a slightly higher prevalence compared to the general population. Among healthcare providers with substance use disorder, anesthesia providers have the highest rates of substance-related mortality and suicide. Current methods to decrease substance use disorder in this population have not reduced the rates of this disease. Methods. An evidence-based educational session incorporating the creation and dissemination of visual aids to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of substance abuse disorder among anesthesia providers was developed. The education was delivered at the Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthesiology educational conference. A post-pre retrospective survey utilizing Qualtrics software was used to collect data and assess an increased confidence level to identify these signs and symptoms. Results. Eighteen participants completed the post-pre survey after the educational presentation. The Likert ranked response scores were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank-signed tests to demonstrate a significant increase in confidence to identify the signs and symptoms of an anesthesia provider who is impaired or may be diverting substances by 25% and 31.25%, respectively (p < 0.05).