Drug and alcohol education in New South Wales: what do nurses want to learn?

We surveyed 432 accredited nurses in New South Wales to identify topics they perceived as a priority for inclusion in drug and alcohol education programmes. The results were analysed according to educational preparation, field of nursing speciality and area/region of employment of subjects. The selection of topics was influenced by field of nursing and location (urban versus country) of employment. These results suggest that more than just a single, core course is necessary to meet the needs of nurses. Additional courses, whose content is augmented by topics which are specifically relevant to various nursing fields, need to be provided to keep inservice and continuing drug and alcohol education clinically relevant.