At its October 2021 meeting, the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) reviewed proposed revisions to the Glossary definition of “Wellness and substance use disorder” found in the 2004 Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs – Practice Doctorate. A mark-up of the current Glossary definition has been posted to the COA website and emailed to the COA’s community of interest for comment.  Please review the proposed revisions and submit your comments using the survey below.

Glossary Definition and Objective 1 

Wellness and substance use disorder –Wellness is defined as a positive state of the mind, body, and spirit reflecting a balance of effective adaptation, resilience, and coping mechanisms in personal and professional environments that enhance quality of life. Substance use disorder (SUD), previously known as chemical dependency and often referred to as addiction, is a chronic and progressive disease which threatens physical and mental health and is individually characterized by a multiplicity of behaviors from misuse through dependency/addiction to alcohol and/or drugs (legal and illegal).  The wellness/SUD curriculum must be an evidence-based program of study that may include but is not limited to the following five key conceptual components and learning objectives.

1.  
Importance of wellness to healthcare professionals: Describe the integration of healthy lifestyles, adaptive coping behaviors and tools to prioritize self-care and lessen career stressors. Build awareness of risk factors for substance use and mental health disorder and suicidal ideation. For workplace wellness, introduce conversational strategies for effective communications and the role CRNAs can take in promoting a healthy work environment. 

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