How Do Nursing Organizations Measure Up on Harm Reduction? An Environmental Scan

Background: In the past five years, we have seen a rapid expansion of harm reduction approaches, programs, and policies in Canada. To keep up with the changing policy landscape, a number of Canadian researchers have undertaken projects that seek to analyze policy documents published by provincial and territorial governments. Building on this important body of work, we undertook a similar analysis using documents published by nursing organizations. Purpose: To present key findings and propose ways that nursing organizations can strengthen their position on harm reduction. Methods: We conducted an environmental scan with a two-part analysis. To complete the first part, we used the 17 quality indicators. To complete the second part, we analyzed the documents for specific harm reduction interventions. Results: A total of 39 documents were collected across 76 nursing organizations. The majority of the documents were press or public statements (n = 22), and the most frequently mentioned intervention was supervised injection services (n = 31). On average, documents met 5.6 quality indicators. Documents scored highest on indicator 12 (discuss low-threshold approaches to service provision) and lowest on indicator 3 (acknowledge that not all substance use is problematic). Conclusions: Six areas were identified to strengthen nursing organizations' position on harm reduction.