Women have lower rates of substance use and dependence than men. However, being a nurse is thought to put women at increased risk of substance use and thereby at increased risk of dependence syndromes, such that risks for some female nurses approach or exceed the levels of risk experienced by men. The major goal of this project is to assess the effect of membership in the nursing profession on substance use. Specifically, this research will: 1. examine the association among access to substances, freedom from negative proscriptions toward substance use, role strain, and substance use among registered nurses. 2. assess whether nurses' working conditions function as an effect modifier of the above relationships. 3. identify clinical specialty groups within the nursing profession which are at higher risk of substance use than their peers. 4. relate the level of access to specific substances within identified high-risk nursing specialties to the use of those substances. 5. compare substance use among nurses to a sample of non-nurses, with adjustment for hours worked and level of education. To accomplish the above aims, an anonymous mailed survey of substance use among 6,000 registered nurses will be conducted, using a multi-stage stratified probability sample of registered nurses in the U.S. also included will be a control group of non-nurses obtained from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. This will allow us to place nurses' substance use into a context with other women and other professionals, so that we can identify any risks of substance use specific to the nursing profession. Analyses will be conducted using multiple logistic regression. The identification of nursing specialties at high-risk for substance abuse will improve the design of educational and preventive initiatives which address substance use among registered nurses, as well as among other vulnerable female populations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA007434-02
Application #
2119957
Study Section
Drug Abuse Epidemiology and Prevention Research Review Committee (DAPA)
Project Start
1993-06-01
Project End
1997-05-31
Budget Start
1994-06-01
Budget End
1995-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland Baltimore
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Nursing
DUNS #
003255213
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21201
Trinkoff, A M; Storr, C L; Lipscomb, J A (2001) Physically demanding work and inadequate sleep, pain medication use, and absenteeism in registered nurses. J Occup Environ Med 43:355-63
Storr, C L; Trinkoff, A M; Hughes, P (2000) Similarities of substance use between medical and nursing specialties. Subst Use Misuse 35:1443-69
Trinkoff, A M; Zhou, Q; Storr, C L et al. (2000) Workplace access, negative proscriptions, job strain, and substance use in registered nurses. Nurs Res 49:83-90
Trinkoff, A M; Storr, C L; Wall, M P (1999) Prescription-type drug misuse and workplace access among nurses. J Addict Dis 18:9-17
Hughes, P H; Storr, C L; Brandenburg, N A et al. (1999) Physician substance use by medical specialty. J Addict Dis 18:23-37
Storr, C L; Trinkoff, A M; Anthony, J C (1999) Job strain and non-medical drug use. Drug Alcohol Depend 55:45-51
Corey-Lisle, P; Tarzian, A J; Cohen, M Z et al. (1999) Healthcare reform. Its effects on nurses. J Nurs Adm 29:30-7
Trinkoff, A M; Storr, C L (1998) Substance use among nurses: differences between specialties. Am J Public Health 88:581-5
Trinkoff, A M; Storr, C L (1998) Work schedule characteristics and substance use in nurses. Am J Ind Med 34:266-71
Trinkoff, A M; Storr, C L (1997) Incorporating auxiliary variables into probability sampling designs. Nurs Res 46:182-5

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