NURS 6052 EVIDENCE-BASED PROJECT, PART 2: ADVANCED LEVELS OF CLINICAL INQUIRY AND SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

NURS 6052 EVIDENCE-BASED PROJECT, PART 2: ADVANCED LEVELS OF CLINICAL INQUIRY AND SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

My clinical topic issue was opioid use disorder. There are many debates regarding how to treat opioid use from medications, CBT, counseling, group therapy, and substance abuse programs. All have an impact on people, but which shows the most effectiveness? Each day, society loses many victims to this deadly disease. Addiction strikes each family, and healthcare providers must help end this battle. One study I found reported, “In Colorado, recent reports showed that 1:10 residents live in places with no access to treatment and many in remote rural areas have to travel over 30 miles to seek treatment” (Amura, et al.,2022, p. 2).  Offering access to healthcare can change the lives of many families, individuals, and communities. Substance users in rural areas suffer due to the lack of access to medication assisting treatment programs. My PICOT question is for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder in rural areas, how does giving them access to medication-assisting treatment programs reduce opioid use and improve patients’ quality of life after the program? 

PICOT Question: P: Opioid users in rural areas, I: how does giving them access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs, C: compared to no intervention O: reduce opioid use and improve patients’ quality of life T: after the program. 

Population: Opioid users in rural areas 

Intervention: Access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs

Comparison: No intervention

Outcome: Reduction in opioid use with an overall improvement in quality of life

Time frame: after the program 

Search Terms and Databases Utilized for Search

I searched the Walden University Library for articles regarding my clinical topic. My initial search was for the subject, Nursing. All the nursing databases were used, including PubMed, CINAHL, ProQuest, and Medline. In the search bar, I searched for the term opioid crisis. I refined the results from 2017 through 2023, full text only, and peer-reviewed articles. Other terms I used were opioid use disorder, medication assisting programs, and rural areas or rural communities.