InsiderNJ
New Jersey’s growing opioid crisis has created knowledge gaps and training challenges for health care professionals.
“Addiction is not just a care issue for nurses working in corrections or drug rehab,” says Rosemary Smentkowski, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC, CARN, a psychiatric nurse practitioner certified in addiction nursing, and an adjunct professor at Georgian Court and Monmouth Universities. “Regardless of where they work, all nurses are addictions nurses, and we need to prepare them to identify this disease,” she says, noting that this critical area of study is not yet included in many schools’ curricula.
