“Stigma is acutely problematic in health care. The effects of institutional and health care provider stigma toward People with Substance Use Disorder (PWSUD) are sizeable, resulting in undertreatment, resistance to seeking and undergoing treatment, diminished therapeutic alliance, and lower-quality care. In a recent scoping review, Cazalis et al
note that approximately 20% to 51% of health care providers potentially hold negative beliefs/feelings toward PWSUD. As a result, PWSUD underutilize health care services to avoid distressing and stigmatizing experiences within the health care system, such as
decreased health care provider regard and empathy and increased discrimination. Substantial effort is needed to mitigate stigma among health care providers to provide improved quality of care and life for those with SUD.”

“Over 17% of Americans aged 12 and older met DSM-V diagnostic criteria for SUD in 2022, and this number will likely continue to climb. Sixty-two percent of students in this evaluation reported personal experience with PWSUD. It is a statistical impossibility that future nurses
will complete their careers, both as clinicians and educators, without encountering PWSUD, individuals with PWSUD in their network, or persons who have lost someone to overdose. As nurse educators, we are called to prepare future nurses who can work to improve health
care for the underrepresented and medically underserved, to actively call out and challenge structural stigma, to confront personal implicit and explicit biases, to provide sensitive, humble, compassionate person-centered care, and to advocate for those we serve. As nursing students are prepared to practice beneficent and just care, we must exclude no one. Have difficult conversations, meet others where they are and look them in the eyes, confront your discomfort, recognize the humanity in everyone you serve, and teach other nurses and future nurses how to do the same.”

Crook, Jennifer I et al. “Evaluating Stigma Toward Individuals With Substance Use Disorder Among Prelicensure Nursing Students.” Nurse educator vol. 50,2 (2025): 79-83.