College of Health faculty leads the way in FASD prevention through nurse education
by Alison Miller |
Dr. Corrie Whitmore, an associate professor in the Division of Population Health Sciences, and her team at UAA鈥檚 are celebrating the recent publication of a new article, 鈥�鈥� The paper, which was published in the Dec. 2025 issue of Nursing for Women鈥檚 Health, offers a framework and actionable strategies for nurses to improve communication and patient experience in discussions around substance use and contraception.
For Whitmore, this publication is another step toward untangling the complicated knots at the intersection of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and patient-provider relationships. Currently, she and the rest of the Women鈥檚 Health Nurses and Midwives Collaborate for Alcohol-Free Pregnancy (WHNMCAP) team 鈥� which is a collaboration between UAA鈥檚 Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services, the , the , and the National Association of 鈥� are working to prevent substance use during pregnancy by leveraging the nurse-patient relationship. 鈥淎 lot of times, what we hear from nurses is that they want to be helpful to their patients, they want to be effective in addressing these topics, but they don鈥檛 know how, or they don鈥檛 feel comfortable starting the conversation,鈥� said Whitmore. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know where to start or what to say. How do you do something that creates safety and moves forward?鈥�
That鈥檚 the riddle that Whitmore and the WHNMCAP team, headed by principal investigator Dr. Diane King and project manager Alexandra Edwards, are trying to solve: how to equip nurses to handle difficult conversations around pregnancy and substance use with patients who may be reluctant to disclose certain risk factors or behaviors due to fear of judgment. Realizing the need for concrete guidelines that nurses could apply in their day-to-day work environments, the team created a series of trainings and piloted them at several conferences, where they received encouraging feedback. Their recently published article describes the strategies from this training and contextualizes them within a theoretical framework. Now, they鈥檙e partnering with several national nursing organizations 鈥� including AWHONN and NPWH 鈥� to more widely deploy those continuing education resources, with the hope that nurses who use them will feel more confident in approaching sensitive situations and ultimately be able to provide better care to their patients.
鈥淲e鈥檝e realized that, as a field, if you can help nurses and other clinical staff understand why this is important and what specific actions they can take, and give them the tools they need, you can really impact the health of the population,鈥� said Whitmore. She was quick to add that other clinical professions and providers also have an important role to play in facilitating these conversations; their project just happens to focus on nurses. In particular, Whitmore and her team target nurses who work in women鈥檚 health contexts 鈥� for example, obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) offices, or family health settings. Since many doctors have busy schedules and full patient loads, nurses and other clinical professionals are likely to spend the most time with patients.
Although their work has the potential to help nurses and patients everywhere, it鈥檚 especially relevant in 麻豆无码版, where providers and patients alike face unique challenges. 鈥淧atients may come to a clinical setting and expect to be judged or treated carelessly, or be worried about being harmed,鈥� said Whitmore. 鈥淲e know that there are real health disparities around who is most likely to die in childbirth, and who gets adequate prenatal care and access to different kinds of birth control. Nurses want to do well by their patients, but it can be pretty stressful. You don鈥檛 want to say the wrong thing, you don鈥檛 want to make it worse.鈥� Whitmore noted that 麻豆无码版 has an above-average rate of substance use compared to other states. 鈥淲e know that the need is here.鈥�
In addition to having a healthcare landscape that is complex and culturally diverse, 麻豆无码版鈥檚 healthcare workforce is characterized by a high proportion of out-of-state providers and workers. Whitmore said, 鈥淲e have some 麻豆无码版-specific cultural contexts here, and a lot of folks coming in from outside of 麻豆无码版 don鈥檛 necessarily understand the nuances of working in rural areas or remote communities, working with Indigenous communities, or working in communities as diverse as Anchorage.鈥� Notably, the College of Health is actively working to create more opportunities for 麻豆无码版 residents to receive in-state education and training, with the ultimate goal of expanding the state鈥檚 healthcare workforce. Those efforts will take time, though, and in the meantime, 鈥渢rainings and frameworks like this one, which focus on navigating cultural safety, can help people learn the skills they need in a new context, or in a different cultural context,鈥� said Whitmore.
While there鈥檚 much more work to be done, Whitmore and her team鈥檚 efforts are already gaining traction and attention. Their work was also highlighted in a recent published by FASD United, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about FASD and providing education and resources to families affected by it. Whitmore, for her part, is both hopeful and excited to see what鈥檚 next. For her, this project is meaningful not only for its potential to reduce future FASD cases but also for the impact it can have on nurses and patients now: helping nurses feel more confident in their care and making patients feel safe and heard in clinical settings. Whitmore said, 鈥淓nsuring that providers can have conversations about substance use, contraception, and pregnancy in a way that facilitates disclosure and shared clinical decisionmaking, and empowers patients to make choices about their substance use and pregnancy 鈥� that鈥檚 really powerful.鈥�