Cynthia Handrup
Clinical Assistant Professor
College of Nursing
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Areas of Expertise
- Adults
- Alternative Pain Management
- Chronic Pain
- Curriculum Development
- Prescribing
- Prescription Drug Monitoring
- Students
Previously Completed Project/Research
Category: Clinical
Meeting the needs of patients who experience physical pain and a psychiatric illness presents challenges as well as opportunities to optimize collaborative partnerships between specialty and primary care services. It is imperative that patients with pain be evaluated for depression and those who present with depression be evaluated for pain to prevent chronic opiate overuse. Given the overlap in symptomatology patients can present in either primary care or psychiatric care, an understanding of the comorbid presentation and lived experience of these patients is essential to holistic and complementary care. The current article examines the nature of pain and comorbid depression and anxiety along with suggested treatment modalities that can modify psychological processes and behavior that perpetuate the pain experience and increase the need for opiate medication. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(12), 1721.]
Research Currently in Progress
Category: Education & Training
Incorporate required MAT training into PMH Nurse Practitioner DNP program (Psychopharmacology Course) this fall.