SBIR-STTR Award

Computerized Educational Systems will develop and evaluate a computer assisted curriculum (CAI) in alcohol and other drug abuse for nurses. The comprehensive curriculum will address the biopsychosocial components of identifying and treating drug abuse. State-of-the-art CAI design will be used to present the latest research on alcohol and other drug abuse. The curriculum will offer accessible, affordable, standardized education to the geographically dispersed and educationally diverse nurses. Phase 1: Staff will conduct a literature search, needs analysis and knowledge analysis to establish instructional specifications for the curriculum. The curriculum will be outlined in modules and lessons enabling various instructional paths to accommodate different learning needs. Evaluation criteria and an evaluation plan will be developed. Phase 11: Staff will finalize the curriculum, design CAI lessons, incorporate testing and evaluation components, produce software and develop documentation and implementation guides. Formative and summative evaluations will be conducted. Phase III: FHA/CES will commercialize the curriculum by marketing it to schools, hospitals, treatment facilities, prisons, medical and mental health clinics and professional associations throughout the country.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:A comprehensive CAI cumculum in alcohol and other drug abuse for nurses and other health care personnel will be developed for use in the U. S. at various levels of training and experience and in a variety of health care settings. It will be marketable to nursing schools, hospitals, mental health centers, drug abuse rehabilitation centers, prisons and professional associations.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Computerized Educational Systems (CES) will develop, evaluate, and market a curriculum of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in nursing identification of and intervention in alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) problems. The curriculum will focus on the nursing process using 100 client scenarios from a broad range of nursing specialties, including: medical/surgical, emergency, maternal/child, critical care, geriatrics, mental health, and substance abuse. In addition to the scenarios, there will be lessons on therapeutic communication, drugs, and attitudes. The design will enable the curriculum to be used by individual nurses regardless of experiences or education. The target population will range from student nurses, to generalist nurses in all practice settings, to nurses beginning practice in the substance abuse setting. In Phase I, the staff conducted a literature search and educational needs assessment. From the results, instructional specifications and an outline for the curriculum were developed. An evaluation plan was established. During Phase II, the staff and consultants will conduct an Author's Workshop, finalize the curriculum and develop twenty hours of CAI. CAI lessons will undergo formative and summative evaluation including a cross validation team beta testing, exit interviews and quasi-experiments. In Phase III, we will commercialize the curriculum by marketing it to nursing schools, hospitals, home healthcare agencies, AODA treatment centers, and individuals.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research: The CAI drug abuse curriculum for nurses will be marketable to 7,000 hospitals, 2,200 nursing schools, 18,000 AODA treatment centers, 7,100 home health care agencies, as well as thousands of HMO's, long term care facilities, physicians offices and individual nurses.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)