title: Hospital nurses' attitudes toward patients with a history of illicit drug use.
abstract: Negative attitudes toward patients with a history of illicit drug use can adversely affect the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship, resulting in suboptimal patient care. We examined registered nurses' attitudes toward patients with illicit drug use (e.g., non-prescription use of opioids and narcotics, use of illicit drugs) admitted to the general internal medicine unit of an urban hospital and attempted to identify nurse-specific and environmental factors influencing these attitudes. The results indicated that nurses had a neutral attitude toward working with patients with a history of illicit drug use, but respondents also had low motivation and role support (i.e., perception of receiving support to fulfil one's professional role) related to caring for this high-risk population. The authors suggest greater use of organizational tools, such as protocols, consult services and in-services, to address nurses' clinical concerns and support therapeutic nurse-patient relationships and thereby enhance care delivery.
authors.affiliation: Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Institute of Aging, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Charlene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galang
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs