UB nursing school takes White House pledge on opioid education

BUFFALO, N.Y. – As part of the ongoing efforts to combat prescription drug and opioid abuse, the University at Buffalo School of Nursing announced its commitment to the White House National Opioid Education Campaign.

The UB nursing school joins 190 other colleges and universities in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in pledging to teach the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain to their advanced practice registered nursing students.

The national pledge, taken April 29, was featured as part of the White House Champions of Change event on Advancing Prevention, Treatment and Recovery.

“Prescription drug and opioid abuse is a growing crisis in our nation,” says Marsha Lewis, dean of the UB School of Nursing.

“Joining the AACN national initiative to assure that our advanced practice registered nursing students are prepared on best-practices to combat this crisis is a priority for our school.”

According to a White House fact sheet, more Americans die every year from drug overdoses than they do in motor vehicle crashes, and the majority of those overdoses involve prescription medications.

Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medications in 2012 – enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.