Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Capstone
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
College Granting Degree
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Kyndall Mammah
Abstract
Substance abuse, specifically opioid abuse, continues to be one of the largest epidemics in the United States. Death caused by overdose has seen a steady increase over the past few decades, and despite public health initiatives such as clean needle exchange programs, methadone clinics, and Narcan, there continues to be a concerning rise in the number of drug usage and death secondary to drug overdose in the young adult. Recently, Narcan became approved for over-the-counter usage to combat the increased incidents of overdose. Scholarly evidence shows that opioid use disorder is most effectively treated with a combination of medication and psychotherapy, particularly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Although Medication-Assisted Therapy (MAT) remains the gold standard in the treatment of opioid use disorder, the evidence and literature presented throughout this project will document how much more effective treatment is when patients are engaging in psychotherapy. The evidence shows that patients have a reduction in cravings, there is a reduction in relapse, and in many cases the patients can maintain long-term sobriety utilizing the tools learned in psychotherapy sessions. This project is a quality improvement project, in which I assessed the current processes in place to assess current treatment of patients seeking initial psychiatric evaluation, as well as of those engaging in follow up visits for the treatment of OUD. From there, I realized that my project site did not have a current process in place unique to patients being seen for OUD. I developed a questionnaire, based on similarities between our patients seen for OUD, that would be used with patients to establish a baseline and used to gauge effectiveness of treatment at increments. Ten patients were followed from May to October to generate these findings that will be presented. In the end, this project has provided a promising conclusion: combined therapy with MAT and psychotherapy for treatment of OUD is effective in optimizing sobriety.
Extent
39 p.
Recommended Citation
Desrosiers, Charlene, "Optimizing Opioid Abuse Treatment in the Young Adult in an Outpatient Psychiatric Setting" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present. 1565.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/1565
Identifier
faudnp000076