State of the Art in Addiction Nursing Science in Europe: Confronting Stigma, Empowering Nurses, and Building Resilience

Addiction nursing in Europe constitutes, on average, over 50% of addiction care providers. However, this critical workforce remains significantly underrepresented in leadership roles, research initiatives, and policy development efforts.

Connected causes: pervasive stigma, insufficient integration of addiction education into
nursing curricula, and the emotional toll of providing care in stressful environments.

Addiction nurses from Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland,
Spain, Poland, Cyprus, and Iceland, share a common mission: to address stigma, advance education, and build resilience in the nursing workforce.

Chris Loth’s (2009) early research highlighted how nurses face professional stigma, where they are marginalised as 'dispensers'; rather than being recognised professionals. This stigma undermines professional identity, fosters self-stigmatisation, and limits nurses’ ability to advocate for their patients and their own roles within the healthcare system.

Carmel Clancy’s (2007/2019) research showed limited addiction-specific content in nursing curricula across Europe exacerbates the workforce challenges, leading to gaps in both care quality and professional development opportunities.

Nicki Annunziata’s work (2024) on trauma and resilience highlights the need to prioritise trauma-informed practices and create systems that mitigate vicarious trauma(VT). Building resilience is critical to retaining skilled nurses but, to ensuring they can continue delivering compassionate, trauma-informed care without compromising their well-being.

Catherine Comiskey and colleagues (2021) have documented the effectiveness of nurse-led addiction treatment centres on patient outcomes while empowering nurses to challenge professional stigma and showcase their expertise.

This workshop will weave together these themes.