Very little research has addressed nurses' attitudes towards substance abuse. Nurses are socially acclimatized with the same values, biases, and denial of the impact of substance abuse as is the general population, and nursing education programmes allow very little time to the study of substance abuse. Thus, it is likely that nurses and nursing students lack accurate information about substance abuse, and may subscribe to common stereotypes. This paper presents data from 277 students, staff, and faculty at a large midwestern baccalaureate nursing programme. The results have significant implications for nursing education, as they indicate a serious lack of attention, in the curriculum, to the study of substance abuse.