Opioids In Nursing

Pain Management and Opioids

Many people around the world have pain they are dealing with. Sometimes the pain in unbearable, other times it is easily taken care of, and then there are times when people become addicted to medications because of the pain. “More than 30% of Americans have some sort form of acute or chronic pain,” noted by Longo, Volkow & Mclellan (2016). Opioids are one of the main pain medications given to patients who struggle with acute or chronic pain. Longo, Volkow & Mclellan (2016) discuss, opioids are widely distributed and used improperly, and the wide distribution of this drug has resulted in many deaths and overdoses around the world. This has caused the opioid crises in pain management (Longo, Volkow & Mclellan 2016).

This paper will discuss the opioid crises and how it is a nationwide issue.
Issues for Nursing
Opioid tolerance causes many issues in the nursing field.

Misuse of drugs, such as opioids is a major problem in the united states, causing many issues in healthcare. Three issues/implications in nursing are addiction, when to initiate the drug, and knowing when to notify and how to notify a physician about the orders. Nurses must learn how to identify if a patient is addicted to opioids and if they are misusing them, noted by Pickett (2013). Many people are prescribed opioids for pain, and these drugs will show up on a urine test, especially if it is a high dose. This can make it hard for a nurse to know if the patient is addicted, so they learn about it throughout the patients stay, noted by Pickett (2013). This leads to the issue of when to administer drugs. Even though the prescribed opioid is due, but the patient has shown no signs or symptoms of pain, does the nurse administer it? Even if the patient asks? This is an issue nurses struggle with daily, because a nurse does not physically feel if the patient is in pain, (Pickett, 2013). This leads to being able to notify the physician. The nurse should notify the physician if they suspect addiction, because the problem with addiction among opioids is huge. The physician has the final say in all of this, so how does a nurse confront it? These are just a few issues that nurses struggle with in the opioid

epidemic.
Nurses can Help
How can the nurse help in the opioid epidemic? Harrell (2016) states, nurses can help by monitoring and screening for substance abuse by providing opioids only when other drugs show no improvement. This could cut down opioid use and abuse, by trying other drugs first. Another way a nurse can help is by “using patient, provider agreements combined with urine drug test and prescription monitoring drug programs,” stated by Harrell, (2016). Using this program can help detect if a patient is going to multiple doctors, getting refills early and using too many pills (Harrell, 2016). The nurse should assess pain on the face scale, every time before administering a pain pill, such as an opioid (Harrell, 2016). This will show the nurse how much pain the patient is in, and the nurse can determine by the way the patient is acting if they can receive the medication. There are many ways a nurse can help in the opioid epidemic, these only being a few. The nurse has many roles in the healthcare field, one of the main roles being, keeping the patient safe.
Resources to Increase Knowledge
Nurses can help increase their knowledge, skills and abilities to help end the opioid crisis. According to Russell (2017), nurses need to remember, especially if they are just coming out of school, that they are mandatory reporters. If a nurse suspects substance abuse disorders, the nurse is required to report it. As a nurse it is important to keep up on education in health care, this includes going to seminars, taking classes at work, or continuing education. Russell (2017) states, keeping up on education in health care, can help prevent addiction. Nurses who keep up on education know when do detect and how to detect addiction. Another way to increase knowledge skills and abilities, is to learn how to assess a patient with an opioid addiction. The nurse should always use the nonpharmacological measures, before administering medications (Russell,2017). According to Hughes (2008), nurses should use research, and use research based knowledge as a practice basis. This will help with making the correct clinical decision at the right time.
Conclusion
There are many things nurses can do to help end the opioid crisis.

Nurses should be able to identify pain correctly, know when it’s appropriate to give a pain medication, such as an opioid, and know when to intervene. Russell (2017), states that nurses are mandatory reporters, so when a nurse suspects and addiction it is important to report medication abuse to the correct personnel. Nurses have many roles in the healthcare field and many people look up to them. If nurses don’t have the correct knowledge about the opioid epidemic, the situation will become worse. Nurses should attend seminars, stay up to date with research and know how to assess a patient correctly when it comes to the opioid epidemic. All these things, can help with ending the opioid crisis in the

future.