Bell MSN ’16 Publishes Integrative Review of OUD Education Offerings for Acute Care Nurses

Christine Fournier Bell MSN ’16, RN, CAPA, WCC

Bell’s research, “Opioid use disorder education for acute care nurses: An integrative review,” was published in the September 2020 issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing (Volume 29, Issue 17-18). With co-author Mary McCurry PhD, RNBS, ANP, ACNP, Bell’s aim was to “explore opioid use disorder (OUD) education programmes presented to practicing nurses working in medical–surgical settings and identify the methods used to evaluate their effectiveness.”

“Health professionals often express negative attitudes towards patients with OUD which can lead to suboptimal care,” notes the article abstract. “Education decreases negative attitudes of healthcare workers. Despite this, few educational programmes are offered to promote knowledge among acute care nurses who work in medical–surgical settings and provide care to patients with OUD.”

A nursing Ph.D. student at UMass Dartmouth, Bell is studying the effects of a combined educational and behavioral intervention on pain management practices in nurses that care for opioid-dependent patients in hospital settings. Based on her review of the literature and practice experiences, she has determined that pain management practices for these nurses are ineffective due to faulty information about dependence and its treatment.

Bell is also a member of the 2018-2020 cohort of Jonas Nurse Scholars, an initiative sponsored by Jonas Philanthropies, a leading national philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education. Launched in 2008 to address the nursing faculty shortage, the Jonas Nurse Scholars initiative has supported the development of more than 1,000 doctoral nursing students in all 50 states.

Bell also currently practices as a perioperative unit educator at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.