A large‐scale, online, multiprofessional opioid prescriber training program

Abstract

Introduction: In response to the opioid crisis, New York State (NYS) mandated training for all licensed professionals authorized to prescribe controlled substances. Content included state and federal requirements for prescribing controlled substances, pain management, appropriate prescribing, managing acute pain, palliative care, prevention, screening and signs of addiction; responses to abuse and addiction; and end-of-life care. Training was required to be completed by 1 July 2017. Objectives: The primary aim of this analysis was to answer the question: Would a large-scale, enduring, online training program administered in an academic environment be feasible? Methods: An interdisciplinary team from the University at Buffalo developed a 4-hour accredited enduring training program which was launched on 15 March 2017. Pre-and posttests were required, with a score of ≥70% on the posttest set as successful completion of the course. Results: As of 1 July 2017, 31 909 participants had completed Module 1, with 26 511 (83.1%) originating from NYS. For Module 2, 29 450 participants completed the training, with 24 460 (83.1%) originating from NYS. A participant survey found that the overwhelming majority of participants were satisfied with the course. Prescribers (physicians, residents, dentists, nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants) all demonstrated significant improvement for both course modules. Aggregate Module 1 scores improved from (mean ± SD) 79.88 (14.67) at baseline to 93.18 (7.45) postcourse (P < .0001). Aggregate Module 2 scores improved from 67.21 (14.8) to 89.13 (8.09; P < .0001). Conclusions: Our experience demonstrates the feasibility of deploying a credible, enduring, multiprofessional online educational program. The program has been wellaccepted, with a demonstration of increased knowledge across disciplines through pre-and posttraining assessment. Further study is needed to address the impact of this training on patterns of opioid prescribing.

Continuing education for advanced practice nurses: A scoping review

“…One study was conducted in Australia (Buckley et al., 2015), and one in Canada (Baxter et al., 2013). 15 of the studies (71%) addressed the impact of different continuing education interventions (Anderson, 2014; Bednarczyk et al., 2022; Boesl & Saarinen, 2016; Buriak et al., 2015; Carron et al., 2018; Choma & McKeever, 2015; Claiborne, 2016; Hessler, 2015; Hoffmann et al., 2018; Johnson, 2014; Klein & Bindler, 2022; Nuttall, 2016; Pietras et al., 2023; Roberts et al., 2022, 2023). Five of the studies used a cross‐sectional survey design and addressed, for example, different needs and barriers to continuing education and preferred course delivery methods (Azotam, 2017; Barnes et al., 2017; Baxter et al., 2013; Buckley et al., 2015; O'Brien Pott et al., 2021).…”

“…Bednarczyk et al. (2022). A large‐scale, online, multiprofessional opioid prescriber training programme.…”

“…Some of the intervention studies utilized needs assessment be- ies was guided by a preliminary literature search (Anderson, 2014;Bednarczyk et al, 2022;Boesl & Saarinen, 2016;Buriak et al, 2015;Carron et al, 2018;Claiborne, 2016;Hessler, 2015;Hoffmann et al, 2018;Klein & Bindler, 2022;Nuttall, 2016). Barnes et al (2017) studied NPs' educational needs regarding psoriasis and identified 1) Participants reported high levels of acceptance of the continuing education module.…”

“…Measurement-related limitations were also reported (Barnes et al, 2017;Bednarczyk et al, 2022;Buckley et al, 2015;Buriak et al, 2015;Claiborne, 2016;Klein & Bindler, 2022;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021;Zureigat et al, 2022). Measurementrelated limitations included self-report measures (Azotam, 2017;Claiborne, 2016;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021), no follow-up reminders or surveys (Azotam, 2017;Roberts et al, 2022;Roberts et al, 2023), instrument validation issues (Baxter et al, 2013;Choma & McKeever, 2015;Hessler, 2015;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021;Zureigat et al, 2022), brief response time or short interval between pre-and post-test (Carron et al, 2018;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021), technical issues (Anderson, 2014) and answering requiring a computer (Buckley et al, 2015;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021).…”

“…Measurementrelated limitations included self-report measures (Azotam, 2017;Claiborne, 2016;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021), no follow-up reminders or surveys (Azotam, 2017;Roberts et al, 2022;Roberts et al, 2023), instrument validation issues (Baxter et al, 2013;Choma & McKeever, 2015;Hessler, 2015;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021;Zureigat et al, 2022), brief response time or short interval between pre-and post-test (Carron et al, 2018;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021), technical issues (Anderson, 2014) and answering requiring a computer (Buckley et al, 2015;O'Brien Pott et al, 2021). Non-generalizability of the intervention was mentioned by Bednarczyk et al (2022), Klein andBindler (2022), andNuttall (2016). Limitations were not reported in the studies conducted by Boesl andSaarinen (2016) andHoffmann et al (2018).…”