Using the art and science of nursing to fight the opioid crisis

Every day we see someone on the news and in our emergency rooms overdosing on prescription or street drugs. Every day, 90 Americans die from opioid overdoses, with 33,000 deaths in 2015 (Rudd et al., 2016). Age, gender, socioeconomic class – it doesn’t matter; Opioid overdose has change into a crisis that causes heartache not just for the overdose victim, but additionally for his or her family members. Some victims are lucky; they receive naloxone and get better, but too often they simply repeat the behavior that got them in trouble in the primary place. So why will we, as one of the crucial developed nations on this planet, find ourselves in such a difficult situation? What can we do as a rustic and as nurses to reverse this uncertain course?

We have all seen patients affected by pain and we all know that is true. However, something has happened during these 20 years. Somehow we believed that patients must be free from pain whatever the cause, and even considered it the fifth vital sign, despite the fact that it was never intended to be viewed as such (Morone and Weiner, 2013). Let’s take into consideration this for a moment. It is totally unrealistic that an individual is not going to feel pain after surgery or injury; the truth is, pain gives us information that something could also be mistaken. We should concentrate on reducing the pain, not completely relieving it.

As the provision of tablet formulations increased within the Nineteen Nineties, the variety of opioid prescriptions and the duration of their prescription increased. When their prescriptions ran out, many turned to cheaper street drugs similar to heroin; the truth is, 80% of current heroin users first used prescription opioids (Muhuri et al., 2013). Many people can access prescription opioids by taking a member of the family’s or friend’s medication or by purchasing it on the road. Currently, 21% to 29% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, and eight% to 12% of those individuals will develop an opioid use disorder (Vowles et al., 2015; Muhuri et al., 2013; Cicero et al., 2014; Carlson et al., 2016).

The federal government is attempting to alleviate this crisis. The Department of Health and Human Services works to enhance access to drug treatment programs, promote using overdose reversal medications (similar to naloxone), and improve public health surveillance. The National Institute of Health has allocated funds for research on progressive pain and addiction treatments.

Nurses are an integral a part of the interdisciplinary team fighting the opioid crisis. Those of us who prescribe opioids must now check the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database to examine a patient’s opioid prescribing history before writing a prescription. We must advocate and practice responsible opioid prescribing; we don’t desire any organization dictating our prescribing practices. We must encourage and help patients seek treatment for opioid addiction. We must teach patients find out how to properly eliminate used opioid medications.

Nursing is each an art and a science, and applying these principles may also help guide our pain management practice by:

When we give a patient an opioid medication, we must consider: Is this the fitting medication for the fitting level and style of pain? Would an alternate medicine similar to acetaminophen, ibuprofen, gabapentin or one other medicine be more appropriate?

The opioid crisis has caused an excessive amount of pain on this country. As nurses, we must recognize that we play a key role in properly assessing and treating pain, we must give you the chance to discover patients who need addiction treatment and help them access these resources, and we should be a voice for responsible prescribing. Together with our interdisciplinary team, we may also help alleviate the opioid crisis; we owe it to our patients!