Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training for nurses in acute care settings: Lessons Learned

Abstract

Behavioral health and substance use disorders (SUDs) represent a substantial portion of global disease burden and are the leading causes of years lived with disability across the world (Whiteford et al., 2015). In the United States, tobacco and alcohol use are associated with leading causes of morbidity and mortality (Johnson et al., 2014) and fatal drug overdoses (excluding alcohol) are a significant contributor to injury deaths (Ruhm, 2018). These data highlight the importance of developing sustainable models of care and the necessary workforce to implement those models across healthcare systems. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based practice framework to enable the identification of at- risk substance users (Babor et al., 2007) that offers a streamlined protocol for integrating substance use prevention and treatment into routine medical care (McCance-Katz & Satterfield, 2012). SBIRT includes three primary components: 1) Screening for risk using one or more validated instruments; 2) Brief intervention (motivational counseling) for patients with moderate risk; and 3) Referral to treatment for patients with severe risk or probable dependence (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n.d.).