Provincial Opioid Addiction Treatment Support Program: Registered Nurses & Registered Psychiatric Nurses
Opioid use disorder is one of the most challenging forms of addiction facing the health care system in British Columbia and a major driver of the recent surge in illicit drug overdose deaths in the province. In the context of the current public health emergency, there is an urgent need for a provincial evidence-based education on the full range of treatment options available for adults and youth with varying presentations of opioid use disorder.
UBC CPD, in partnership with the BC Centre for Substance Use (BCCSU), has developed an online course intended for all BC physicians, nursing and allied health professionals, and other care providers involved in the treatment of individuals with opioid use disorder. Designed with busy professionals in mind, the course articulates the BCCSU’s Provincial Guidelines for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder through interactive content, videos and case studies. Learners are awarded up to 14.0 CNA credits for completion of the course.
The Provincial Opioid Addiction Treatment Support Program (POATSP) is tailored to two learner groups. This page is for registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses.
Family physicians, specialists, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists, register here.
The POATSP course stream is divided into 31 modules, each of which focuses on a key element of opioid use disorder care.
- Overview of Opioid Use Disorder
- Registered Nurse and Registered Psychiatric Nurse Prescribing for Opioid Use Disorder
- Trauma-informed Care
- Triage, Assessment, and Treatment Planning
- Specialized Assessments
- Urine Drug Testing
- Harm Reduction
- Buprenorphine/naloxone—Pharmacotherapy
- Buprenorphine/naloxone—Induction
- Home Induction of Buprenorphine/naloxone
- Buprenorphine/naloxone—How to Write a Prescription
- Methadone—Pharmacotherapy
- Methadone—Safety
- Methadone—How to Write a Prescription
- Comparing Methadone and Buprenorphine/naloxone
- Slow-release Oral Morphine
- Strategies to Prevent Diversion
- Transitions Between Opioid Agonist Treatment Medications
- OAT Continuing Care
- OAT and Pregnancy
- Youth with Opioid Use Disorder
- Injectable OAT (OPTIONAL)
- Safe Prescribing
- Pain and Substance Use Disorders
- Common Medical Complications
- Polysubstance Use While on OAT
- Safer Drug Consumption and Overdose Prevention
- Psychosocial Treatment Interventions and Recovery-oriented Supports
- Treating Opioid Use Disorder—Rural Context (OPTIONAL)
- Legal, Policy, and Ethical Implications
- Extended-release Buprenorphine
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Define and establish a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD)
- Evaluate a patient with OUD and create a patient-centred care plan
- Provide safe treatment of OUD with buprenorphine/naloxone or limited prescribing of methadone or slow-release oral morphine (SROM)
- Write a safe and clear prescription for opioid agonist treatment medications
- Safely induct and maintain a patient on buprenorphine/naloxone
- Safely maintain a patient on methadone or SROM
- Engage a patient in comprehensive and continuing care
- Provide trauma-informed care to people with OUD
- Educate patients about harm reduction and integrate harm reduction provision into clinical care
- Transition patients between certain modalities of pharmacotherapy for OUD
- Provide opioid agonist treatment to patients in a variety of settings
- Manage precipitated withdrawal
Designed in partnership by BC Centre for Substance Use, UBC Continuing Professional Development, and UBC School of Nursing.
The British Columbia Centre for Substance Use received a CNA accreditation for the activity, Health Canada’s SUAP course: Provincial Opioid Addiction Treatment Support Program: Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses. The CNA Accreditation Program upholds standards of quality for continuing professional development for nurses in Canada. This self-assessment learning activity has been accredited for up to 14.0 CNA credits.
