The Role of Nurse Practitioners in Medication-Assisted Treatment: A Literature Review

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

College/School

College of Nursing

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Abstract

"Currently, less than 2% of nurse practitioners are working in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs. By increasing the number of available MAT providers, a greater number of people seeking care for opioid use disorders can access evidence-based treatment. A review of the literature was performed to identify barriers to increasing nurse practitioners in MAT programs. Searches were conducted using both PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Results were restricted to the following limitations: English-language only, human subjects, published in years 2011-2018. The search retrieved 93 articles, including original research and secondary reviews of the literature. After removing duplicates, as well as articles deemed beyond the relevance of this review, 17 articles were included. A synthesis of the findings suggests that there is a significant lack of understanding regarding the regulation of health care providers with authority to prescribe MAT, an invisibility of nurse practitioners in MAT-related state and national records, and perceived difficulty in navigating the expanded requirements for non-physician providers to work in MAT programs. Strategies are needed to increase accessibility to treatment and nurse practitioners can fill that shortage. In order to determine the best strategy, or combination of strategies, more research is needed to prioritize and focus efforts. Keywords: Addiction medicine, Medication-assisted treatment, Nurse practitioners, Opioid treatment, Policy analysis, Scope of practice"

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