It is my pleasure to introduce this issue of the Journal of Addictions Nursing. In this issue, articles address a number of important topics in the addictions field, including substance use across the lifespan and nurses' roles in numerous settings.
We begin with a Guest Editorial, "A Call to Action," by Dr. Ruthanne Palumbo. Dr. Palumbo discusses defining the nurse's role in harm reduction in acute care settings, an important topic for all nurses.
Dr. Tonja Padgett discusses the advantages of providing medication treatment for substance use disorders in outpatient primary care offices, while at the same time addressing the potential drawback for the disruption of the continuity of care regarding psychotherapy treatment. She concludes that it may be clinically significant to set up follow-up communication so that the clinician and the therapy provider can maximize treatment success.
Dr. Kenneth McRae's quality improvement project focuses on geriatric patients admitted to a substance abuse treatment center. Nursing staff attended a training program that focused on older adults and the use of the Fulmer SPICES tool for patient assessment. There was an increase in nurses' knowledge and in the documentation of assessment findings. Age-specific assessments identify abnormal conditions or geriatric syndromes, which can prompt earlier nursing and medical interventions.
Dr. Patrick O'Byrne and his colleague Courtney Jeske examine the process and experiences associated with methadone maintenance therapy from the perspective of persons who are enrolled in treatment. Participants were engaged in semistructured interviews and described that, although methadone maintenance therapy can positively affect people who use such a treatment option, it also continues to have a negative impact that repeatedly affects its initiation and delivery.
Two graduate students, Kathryn Dalton and Natalie Butt, present their paper on a literature review and meta-analysis to examine whether buprenorphine/naloxone is more effective than buprenorphine and methadone in making a clinical difference. They found that the addition of naloxone to buprenorphine did not yield any significant clinical difference in terms of retention in treatment. This information can be used to inform clinicians and to ultimately allow patients to have a choice in their treatment for an opioid use disorder.
Drs. Gandhi and Sharma, along with Maya Sahu, provide a literature review examining mobile phone addiction among children and adolescents. A number of electronic databases were searched and identified 12 descriptive studies that met their inclusion criteria. Their review finds that excessive overuse of mobile phone was associated with feelings of insecurity, staying up late, impaired parent-child relationships, impaired school relationships, and psychological problems.
Dr. Boska and colleagues aimed to measure the properties of the Rasch model of the Portuguese version of the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs-Short Screener. The Rasch model revealed that the subscales of the instrument were adequate, with items having mean values from 0.5 to 1.5, which are considered optimal for measurement. Given the need for validated instruments for use in Brazil, it is encouraging that the Portuguese version of the scale was valid for the Rasch model, and these results are consistent with studies with other American, Brazilian, and Canadian versions of the instrument.
We have a number of informative columns as well, including Dr. Baird's Media Watch on "Teens and Vaping: What you Need to Know"; Dr. Rundio's Stories from the Field on "Moral Distress and Ethical Dilemmas"; Dr. Kub's Innovative Roles on an interview with Joanne Schwartz, CRNP and Educator; and Dr. Lorman's Pharmacology Update on "Sublocade."
Finally, we are fortunate to have the support of our excellent peer reviewers. They are listed in this issue as a thank you for their ongoing contributions to the quality and growth of the Journal.
This is an exciting issue, one in which we will all learn more about addiction nurses' roles across the lifespan and numerous practice settings. I look forward to your feedback and input as I move onward with my work as Editor in Chief of the Journal for Addictions Nursing.