Rachel McFadden

Rachel is a certified Emergency Nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she has designed and delivered nursing education on the opioid crisis and new treatment pathways to hundreds of nurses in various departments. In addition to caring for patients with opioid use disorder in the Emergency Department, she participates in several multidisciplinary work groups to improve linkage to opioid medication-assisted treatment, combat the stigma against people who use drugs, and is leading the design of standardized opioid stewardship education modules for nurses across the health system. Rachel is also a long-time volunteer at Prevention Point Philadelphia’s syringe exchange, providing harm reduction-based education and services in the community.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System comprises five individual entities, including three in downtown Philadelphia. The Opioid Stewardship Committee supports system-wide advancements in ensuring compliance with opioid prescribing regulations while focusing on judicious opioid use; expanding awareness and implementation of medication-assisted treatments; designing and integrating clinician education about balanced analgesia; and developing robust IT monitoring and support to track initiatives.