Introduction: Controlled substance agreements are widely used by healthcare providers who prescribe opioid medications. Little empirical research supports their effectiveness in increasing patient adherence, education, or legal protection for providers.
Research Question: How do patients receiving long-term opioid treatment characterize the controlled substance agreement process?
Method: This quantitative, non-probability study studied patients with chronic pain receiving long-term opioid treatment in private medical practices. Watson's Theory of Human Caring provided the framework to explore patients' perceptions with a modified version of the Caring Behaviors Inventory.
Results: The majority of respondents viewed the American Academy of Pain Medicine's sample Controlled Substance Agreements as a caring health care activity by providers. Patients with higher educational levels had lower total care scores on the modified Caring Behaviors Instrument. The controlled substance agreement studied ranked highest in being honest with patients and demonstrating professional knowledge to the study patients but lowest in expressing hopefulness.
Conclusion: The Theory of Human Caring by Watson provided a useful theoretical framework to actualize and quantify patient-centered care. Research patients receiving long-term opioids for chronic, non-malignant pain perceived the American Academy of Pain Medicine's controlled substance agreement as a caring healthcare document.
","abstract_html":"<p><strong>Introduction</strong>: Controlled substance agreements are widely used by healthcare providers who prescribe opioid medications. Little empirical research supports their effectiveness in increasing patient adherence, education, or legal protection for providers.</p> <p>Research Question: How do patients receiving long-term opioid treatment characterize the controlled substance agreement process?</p> <p><strong>Method</strong>: This quantitative, non-probability study studied patients with chronic pain receiving long-term opioid treatment in private medical practices. Watson's Theory of Human Caring provided the framework to explore patients' perceptions with a modified version of the Caring Behaviors Inventory.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: The majority of respondents viewed the American Academy of Pain Medicine's sample Controlled Substance Agreements as a caring health care activity by providers. Patients with higher educational levels had lower total care scores on the modified Caring Behaviors Instrument. The controlled substance agreement studied ranked highest in being honest with patients and demonstrating professional knowledge to the study patients but lowest in expressing hopefulness.</p> <p>Conclusion: The Theory of Human Caring by Watson provided a useful theoretical framework to actualize and <strong>quantify</strong> patient-centered care. Research patients receiving long-term opioids for chronic, non-malignant pain perceived the American Academy of Pain Medicine's controlled substance agreement as a caring healthcare document.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moskowitz Keaney, Diane"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Barbara Ganley, PhD, RN, HNC"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:06:07Z","subjects":["Nursing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/47","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Barbara Ganley, PhD, RN, HNC"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moskowitz Keaney, Diane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Nursing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/47"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Introduction: Controlled substance agreements are widely used by healthcare providers who prescribe opioid medications. Little empirical research supports their effectiveness in increasing patient adherence, education, or legal protection for providers.
Research Question: How do patients receiving long-term opioid treatment characterize the controlled substance agreement process?
Method: This quantitative, non-probability study studied patients with chronic pain receiving long-term opioid treatment in private medical practices. Watson's Theory of Human Caring provided the framework to explore patients' perceptions with a modified version of the Caring Behaviors Inventory.
Results: The majority of respondents viewed the American Academy of Pain Medicine's sample Controlled Substance Agreements as a caring health care activity by providers. Patients with higher educational levels had lower total care scores on the modified Caring Behaviors Instrument. The controlled substance agreement studied ranked highest in being honest with patients and demonstrating professional knowledge to the study patients but lowest in expressing hopefulness.
Conclusion: The Theory of Human Caring by Watson provided a useful theoretical framework to actualize and quantify patient-centered care. Research patients receiving long-term opioids for chronic, non-malignant pain perceived the American Academy of Pain Medicine's controlled substance agreement as a caring healthcare document.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Controlled Substance Agreements:The Patient's Perspective Explored Through the Theory of Human Caring"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Barbara Ganley, PhD, RN, HNC"],"dc:creator":["Moskowitz Keaney, Diane"],"dc:description.abstract":["Introduction: Controlled substance agreements are widely used by healthcare providers who prescribe opioid medications. Little empirical research supports their effectiveness in increasing patient adherence, education, or legal protection for providers.
Research Question: How do patients receiving long-term opioid treatment characterize the controlled substance agreement process?
Method: This quantitative, non-probability study studied patients with chronic pain receiving long-term opioid treatment in private medical practices. Watson's Theory of Human Caring provided the framework to explore patients' perceptions with a modified version of the Caring Behaviors Inventory.
Results: The majority of respondents viewed the American Academy of Pain Medicine's sample Controlled Substance Agreements as a caring health care activity by providers. Patients with higher educational levels had lower total care scores on the modified Caring Behaviors Instrument. The controlled substance agreement studied ranked highest in being honest with patients and demonstrating professional knowledge to the study patients but lowest in expressing hopefulness.
Conclusion: The Theory of Human Caring by Watson provided a useful theoretical framework to actualize and quantify patient-centered care. Research patients receiving long-term opioids for chronic, non-malignant pain perceived the American Academy of Pain Medicine's controlled substance agreement as a caring healthcare document.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/47"],"dc:subject":["Nursing"],"dc:title":["Controlled Substance Agreements:The Patient's Perspective Explored Through the Theory of Human Caring"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:06:07Z"}