A world-class city filled with art and culture and an incredible campus that offers cutting edge resources–that’s what students receive at Penn Nursing. And that’s just the start. Penn Nursing and the wider university offer something for everyone, as well as a lifelong community.

Penn Nursing is globally known for educating dynamic nurses—because our School values evidence-based science and health equity. That’s where our expertise lies, whether in research, practice, community health, or beyond. Everything we do upholds a through-line of innovation, encouraging our exceptional students, alumni, and faculty share their knowledge and skills to reshape health care.

Penn Nursing students are bold and unafraid, ready to embrace any challenge that comes their way. Whether you are exploring a career in nursing or interested in advancing your nursing career, a Penn Nursing education will help you meet your goals and become an innovative leader, prepared to change the face of health and wellness.

Penn Nursing is the #1-ranked nursing school in the world. Its highly-ranked programs help develop highly-skilled leaders in health care who are prepared to work alongside communities to tackle issues of health equity and social justice to improve health and wellness for everyone.

Penn Nursing’s rigorous academic curricula are taught by world renowned experts, ensuring that students at every level receive an exceptional Ivy League education. From augmented reality classrooms and clinical simulations to coursework that includes experiential global travel to clinical placements in top notch facilities, a Penn Nursing education prepares our graduates to lead.

Preparing Future Clinicians to Intervene in Opioid Crisis

Opioid use disorder and overdose have reached unprecedented levels around the world. In the United States, remediation of pain is one of the most common reasons American adults seek healthcare. Therefore, it is vital that clinicians practicing in diverse roles and settings have a clinical understanding of pain and substance use disorders as well as knowledge about public health and opioid policy interventions.

September 17, 2020
Shoshana Aronowitz, PhD, CRNP
Shoshana Aronowitz, PhD, CRNPShoshana Aronowitz
Health Schmidt, PhD
Health Schmidt, PhDPenn Nursing
Peggy Compton, PhD, RN
Peggy Compton, PhD, RNPenn Nursing

Data show that future healthcare professionals have not been receiving the training needed to competently provide this care. Healthcare professional curricula at undergraduate and graduate levels currently lack the content needed to adequately prepare future clinicians to intervene at the clinical and policy levels with regard to opioid use disorder and pain.

To address this gap, Shoshana Aronowitz, PhD, CRNP; Heath Schmidt, PhD; and Peggy Compton, PhD, RN, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), designed and taught a 14-week transdisciplinary elective course titled “Opioids: From Receptors to Epidemic.” The course curriculum is presented in detail in an article published in the journal Pain Management Nursing.

“We believe that courses such as this one are a vital step in addressing the current opioid and overdose crises, and it is our hope that students leave this course with a basic understanding of pain and opioid use disorders and the complex ways in which both impact therapeutic approaches and society,” the authors say. The course is open to students from nursing and other disciplines, and includes both undergraduate and graduate students.

The article, “Innovative Approaches to Educating Future Clinicians about Opioids, Pain, Addiction and Health Policy” is available online.

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