Exploring nurses’ experiences of caring for people who inject drugs with a physical health condition: an integrative literature review

The physical health risks associated with intravenous drug use are well documented and include infective endocarditis, deep vein thrombosis, transmission of blood-borne viruses and bacterial skin infections. With illicit drug use increasing, nurses are more likely to provide care to people who inject drugs (PWID). However, there is little research focusing on nurses' experiences of providing care for PWID with a physical health condition.This article details an integrative literature review that was undertaken to explore nurses' experiences of caring for PWID with a physical health condition and to determine the factors that affect these experiences, with a view to identifying knowledge gaps in current practice. Four main themes were identified: lack of knowledge, emotional challenges, stigma, and fear and safety. Overall, the review found that nurses often feel educationally unprepared to care for PWID, and therefore require training, education and ongoing support to reduce stigma towards this patient group and to ensure they receive high-quality nursing care.