NURS 6050: Policy and Advocacy
Substance use and addiction is a problem since it produces harm to the surrounding and the users. Notably, Substance use and abuse cause financial harm of approximately $420 billion annually, while healthcare spends approximately $120 billion to cater for treatment (McLellan, 2017). In addition, the impact resulting from substance use and addiction includes the deterioration of the social system, education and health, and death to young people through accident, medication overdoses, and drug violence.
Substance use and addiction are an epidemic. As identified by the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC), in 2017 approximately 47600 people died due to opioid overdose, while others were revived by antagonist naloxone (Cicero, Ellis & Kasper, 2020). Therefore, the legislation must consider the agenda to help mitigate steps to deter the abuse and diversion. The nurse’s role in agenda-setting for substance use and addiction is to help in suggesting the appropriate treatment system that would help mitigate opioid use.
Additionally, nurses play a role in informing about the effect that substance use has on the people and giving detail about the area that needs to be addressed when developing intervention measures (Laureate Education (Producer), 2018). Moreover, nurses help the legislature understand the effective way to promote change in the regulation and state rule by understanding the political engagements (0’Rourke et al.,2017). Finally, the nurse plays a role in testing the potential effects of the brief interventions for patients suffering from substance use and addiction. Therefore, nurses play a role in ensuring that the legislation provides relevant and essential services and easily accessible to the youth.
Cicero, T. J., Ellis, M. S., & Kasper, Z. A. (2020). Polysubstance use: a broader understanding of substance use during the opioid crisis. American Journal of Public Health, 110(2), 244-250.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Setting the Agenda [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author
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