NUR 512-Week 5 Paper

Running Heading: OPIOID CRISIS Opioid Crisis Name Institution NUR 512: Fundamentals of Nursing Informatics Date Opioid Crisis Many people refer to the drug problem as an opioid epidemic with no solutions being provided to fix the problem. “Approximately 100 Americans die from drug overdoses every day” (Creech, 2016). One hot topic listed on Fierce Healthcare is actions to fix the opioid crisis. These actions are important for the lives of people who are abusing opioids. This paper will explore rationale for choosing the topic of opioid crisis, how the actions will affect practice in a positive and negative way, and pro`s and cons of instilling these five actions. Rationale for selecting opioid crisis Selecting opioid crisis was an easy decision because these types of patients are seen on a daily basis. “Drug overdose is the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States” (Creech, 2016). With a problem this big, it would appear that doctors and other health care professionals should have a direct plan of action in place for dealing with this population. Fierce Health suggests implementing 5 actions to tackle this problem. These actions include educating provides on guidelines for prescribing the medication, access to treatment, naloxone availability, prevention of abusive practice, and sharing effective practice (Small. 2017). This action plan needs to be shared among health care professionals and implemented as soon as possible. All health care professionals need to do their part to combat this opioid crisis. Impact practice in a positive way Physicians play a key role in implementing the action plan. “Increased prescribing of opioids is being blamed on requiring pain to be considered a fifth vital sign” (Wolfe, Bouffard, & Modesto-Lowe, 2016). Patient satisfaction scores pave the way for reimbursement in the hospital. One-way doctors increase the patient`s satisfaction is by prescribing opioid medication. Physicians must adhere to the guidelines of prescribing the opioid medication. One critical part of the action plan is plan is having naloxone readily available. One important change seen in the Cincinnati area is police and emergency medical service carrying and having the right to administer the powerful antidote called naloxone or Narcan. Finding treatment that includes medication assistance is another action needed. Finding treatment is difficult and most places have long waiting lists. “Access to treatment is an enormous challenge with only 10.7% of patients receiving it” (Gustafson, Landucci, McTavish,, Kornfield, Johnson, Mares, & Shah, 2016). Medication assisted treatment is needed while the patient works through the behavioral therapy. Prevention of abusive practice is very important. Doctors and pharmacies have tools to see if a patient has had any narcotics filled recently. This tool can be used as a final decision maker when deciding when to give a patient in a pain a prescription. If the patient has had a narcotic filled recently then the best recommendation for that patient would be to follow up with the patients primary care doctor. Doctors should unite and talk about the best ways to help the opioid users. Doctors should take education courses and make a pact to not continue the abusive practice of prescribing opioids to patients who are at risks. Pro`s The pro`s of physicians adhering to the guidelines would be less opioid medication being prescribed or patient`s leaving with a much smaller prescription. With no prescription or a small prescription patient`s would not be able to abuse these medications. The pro`s of having naloxone readily available is more lives can be saved. “Naloxone can reverse the effects of opioids ((Wolfe, Bouffard, & Modesto-Lowe, 2016). This reverse of the effects allows overdose victims to resume breathing. This reversal can reduce side effects of the overdose, which allows the victims to need less medical care. The pro`s of having more treatment centers available is obvious. Helping more patients addicted with less waiting time is the ultimate goal. Usually when patients start to seek treatment, it is a last resort. They are ready for treatment that day not in a month. The pro`s of having the online tool are endless. The doctor can research how many times a patient has had narcotics filled. This tool helps doctors from continue to contribute to the problem of abusive practices associated with opioids. The pro`s of having all doctors on the same team allows them to have united from. The doctors can talk to each other and increase their knowledge of at risk patients. The doctors can be the frontline of stopping nonmedical use of opioids. Impact practice in a negative way Physicians may see following the guidelines as a direct link to the decline of their income. Hospitals may see following the guidelines as a direct link to lower patient satisfaction scores. Many comments have been made about having naloxone readily available increased the risk of abuse for opioid abusers. Some say the victim will continue to use because naloxone is readily available. In some ways, naloxone allows victims to avoid going to the hospital. Lawmakers and health care professionals need to work together to establish some type of follow up for victims revived by naloxone. There are many opinions about the use of medication-assisted treatment. Some common quotes are the patient is still a junky if they are using Suboxone or you are not clean until you use no medications. The medications are sometimes needs for a short-term use while the patient works through behavioral therapy. The online assisted tool does not impact practice in a negative way. This tool gives doctors the power to obtain correct information rather than relying on the patient to tell when their last narcotic fill was. There are not many negatives of doctors having a united front. If no doctors are supporting the at risks individuals then hopefully the patient will turn to treatment. Con`s The con`s of physicians adhering to the guidelines is patient satisfaction scores may decrease leading to less money within the facility. Although this helps combat the opioid crisis it does no favors to reimbursement. The consideration of removing pain for patient satisfaction reimbursement may help physicians more apt to adhere to the guidelines. The con`s of having naloxone readily available is victims may no longer require hospital attention. When victims do not go to the hospital they may miss out on the information for a chance at recovery. Registered nurses can play a critical role in helping patients find follow up care that includes counseling and the use of medications (Haebler & Casey, 2016). There are not many con`s to getting patients the treatment they need quicker. The faster the patients can start treatment the better. One article talks about how medication assistance has shown increase rates of recovery but patients still fail to maintain a long-term recovery (Gustafson, Landucci, McTavish, Kornfield, Johnson, Mares, & Shah, 2016). Unfortunately that same patient may need treatment multiple times. Addiction can be compared to dieting. It is very hard to maintain no cheating on a diet forever. At some point, the person on a diet sneaks a candy bar. There are no con`s for doctors to have the online tool. This tool allows doctors to identify patients who are at risk for opioid abuse and stop the abusive practice. There are not many con`s with the doctor`s having a united front. Doctors should be taught to encourage these at risk patient`s to seek treatment if they do have a problem with opioids. Conclusion By using these five actions, health care providers can intervene in the opioid crisis. By not continuing to contribute to the problem doctor`s can lead the way to treatment. Doctors need to educate themselves on prevention and finding these patients a treatment programs. Doctors need to use the online tools to identify at risk patients and communicate with other health care professionals on how to treat opioid addictions. Naloxone needs to be readily available to effectively prevent overdoses. These naloxone revived patients need to also be offered some type of treatment program. Every health care professional can do their part to reduce the abuse of opioids. References