Chandra Speight, PhD, RN, NP-C, CNE Assistant Professor, Department of Advanced Nursing Practice and Education in the College of Nursing at East Carolina University

Nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, physician assistants, and physicians, from novice to expert, in any field of practice, who are interesting in understanding factors affecting buprenorphine prescribing. The content will add to participants’ body of knowledge related to factors affecting buprenorphine prescribing by nurse practitioners. The session is unique because it offers insights on prescribing identified from individual interviews with nurse practitioners who hold buprenorphine waivers. It also offers special insight into barriers and facilitators to prescribing in rural regions.

The webinar will first provide an overview of buprenorphine and its role in treating individuals living with substance use disorder. Policies affecting buprenorphine prescribing will then be reviewed, with an emphasis on the role of advanced practice providers in treating substance use disorder in rural areas and the buprenorphine prescribing policies that specifically impact their ability to prescribe. Barriers and facilitators to physician prescribing identified in the extant literature on buprenorphine prescribing will be briefly considered before the presenter shares barriers and facilitators to nurse practitioner prescribing identified in her research. The webinar will close with directions for future inquiry.

At the conclusion of this activity, learners should be able to:

• Describe the role of buprenorphine in treating individuals living with opioid use disorder in rural regions
• Analyze the policies that impact buprenorphine prescribing
• Describe barriers and facilitators to buprenorphine prescribing