Nurse-Assisted Injection: A Path to Equity in Supervised Consumption Services

Supervised consumption services are an essential part of health care and community services for people who use substances in British Columbia. These services are particularly important for people who inject substances because they offer a safer place to inject and access care and services. The benefits of supervised consumption services for people who use substances are well documented. However, for clients who need help injecting, barriers to accessing from these services remain because staff are currently not allowed to provide injection assistance. Nurses who work in supervised consumption services do not provide hands-on assistance with the injection itself. Clients who access supervised consumption service are expected to have the knowledge, skills, and ability to inject without help from staff. In reality, this expectation creates barriers to access, prevents nurses from meeting clients where they are at, and runs counter to the goals of supervised consumption services, which are to save lives, improve health, and increase access to care and services.

Suggested citation: Gagnon, M., Gauthier, T., Cleveland, E., Ditmars, M., Gregg, K., Hlady, K. & McLaughlin, K. (2022). Nurse-Assisted Injection: A Path to Equity in Supervised Consumption Services. Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, Victoria, BC.