Every day we see it in the news and in our emergency departments, a person overdosing on prescription or street drugs. Every day, 90 Americans die due to an opioid overdose and in 2015, 33,000 lives were lost (Rudd, et al., 2016). Age, gender, socioeconomic class, it doesn’t matter; opioid overdose has become a crisis that causes heartache for not only the overdose victim, but their loved ones too. Some victims are lucky; they receive naloxone and are revived, but too often they just repeat the behavior that landed them in trouble in the first place. So why are we, as one of the most developed nations in the world, in this predicament? What can we do as a country and as nurses to change this precarious course?
We’ve all seen patients in pain and know it’s real. But, something happened over the past 20 years. Somehow, we thought patients should be pain free no matter what the cause, and we even considered it a 5th vital sign, although it was never meant to be considered that way (Morone & Weiner, 2013). Let’s think about that for a minute. It’s completely unrealistic that after surgery or an injury, a person won’t experience pain; in fact, pain gives us information that something maybe wrong. We should have been focusing on decreasing pain, not totally alleviating it.
With the availability of tablet formulations growing in the 1990’s, the number of opioid prescriptions and the length of time they were prescribed grew. When their prescriptions ran out, many turned to less costly street drugs like heroin; in fact, 80% of patients who use heroin today used prescription opioids first (Muhuri, et al., 2013). Many people can access prescription opioids by using a family member’s or friend’s medication or buying them on the street. Today 21% to 29% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them and 8% to 12% of these people 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 trying to alleviate this crisis. The Department of Health and Human Services is working to improve access to drug treatment programs, promote the use of overdose-reversing drugs (such as naloxone), and improve public health surveillance. The National Institutes of Health has devoted funding for research on innovative pain management and addiction treatment.
Nurses are an integral part of the interdisciplinary team fighting the opioid crisis. For those of us who prescribe opioids, before writing the prescription, we must now check the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Database to investigate the patient’s opioid prescription history. We must advocate for and practice responsible prescribing of opioids; we do not want any organization dictating our prescription practices. We need to encourage patients to seek treatment for opioid addiction and help them find those resources. We need to teach patients how to properly dispose of their used opioid medications.
Nursing is both an art and a science, and using those principles can help guide our pain management practice through:
- Educating patients that reducing pain, not completely alleviating it, is often the goal.
- Evaluating and managing the patient’s anxiety through relaxation techniques.
- Using correct patient positioning.
- Using ice or heat when appropriate.
- Using compression and elevation for sprains or strains.
- Encouraging rest.
- Using acupuncture, meditation, and other alternative or naturopathic techniques.
When we do administer an opioid medication to a patient, we need to consider: is this the right drug for the right level and right type of pain? Would an alternative drug such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, gabapentin or something else be more appropriate?
The opioid crisis has brought too much heartache to this country. As nurses, we must recognize we are integral to assessing and managing pain appropriately, be able to identify patients who need addiction therapy and help them gain access to those resources, and we must be a voice for responsible prescribing. Together with the interdisciplinary team, we can help to alleviate the opioid crisis; we owe it to our patients!
References
Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. (2016). Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm655051e1.
Morone NE, Weiner DK. (2013). Pain as the fifth vital sign: exposing the vital need for pain education. Clin Ther. 2013;35(11):1728-1732. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2013.10.001.
Vowles KE, McEntee ML, Julnes PS, Frohe T, Ney JP, van der Goes DN. (2015). Rates of opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction in chronic pain: a systematic review and data synthesis. Pain. 2015;156(4):569-576. doi:10.1097/01.j.pain.0000460357.01998.f1.
Muhuri PK, Gfroerer JC, Davies MC. (2013). Associations of Nonmedical Pain Reliever Use and Initiation of Heroin Use in the United States. CBHSQ Data Rev. August 2013.
Cicero TJ, Ellis MS, Surratt HL, Kurtz SP. (2014). The Changing Face of Heroin Use in the United States: A Retrospective Analysis of the Past 50 Years. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(7):821-826. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.366.
Carlson RG, Nahhas RW, Martins SS, Daniulaityte R. (2016). Predictors of transition to heroin use among initially non-opioid dependent illicit pharmaceutical opioid users: A natural history study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016;160:127-134. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.12.026.
Anne Dabrow Woods, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, FAAN
Chief Nurse, Wolters Kluwer
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