Sacred Heart University has received a $2.4-million grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) for its College of Nursing’s new project called Alternatives to Opioids for Pain (ALTOP).
ALTOP is being funded under the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Program that supports academic clinical partnerships to prepare nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives for work in rural and underserved communities including in Bridgeport.
Under the program, family nurse practitioner (FNP) students will gain long-term clinical experience and training in the appropriate use of opioids, as well as alternative pain treatments and modalities, in primary-care settings.
The grant will help in the development of clinical preceptors at Optimus Health Care and Southwest Community Health Center, both in Bridgeport. The grant will also help reduce the educational debt for FNP student candidates from underrepresented, disadvantaged and/or minority backgrounds and veterans who commit to working in medically underserved areas upon graduation.
“Pain is one of the most common reasons for patient visits to a primary-care provider,” said SHU Professor Susan DeNisco, principal investigator and director of the project. “This project will prepare the next generation of nurse practitioners with safe and effective prescribing patterns yet will be poised to integrate alternative pain treatment modalities to enhance patients’ quality of life.”
Opioid misuse is driving soaring death rates in the U.S. today. Between 1999 and 2015, overdose deaths nationwide more than tripled. The problem is particularly acute in Connecticut, which has one of the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths in the nation.
Connecticut’s Department of Public Health has reported that Connecticut residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdose — principally from prescription opioid painkillers — than from a motor-vehicle accident. Drug abuse is also correlated to the prevalence and diagnoses of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in the state.
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