Dealing with opioid addiction is one of the most significant issues the U.S. health system faces today, and nurses are playing a key role in our nation’s efforts to deal with the crisis.
For health care professionals, many aspects of opioid addiction and other Substance Use Disorders (SUD) present challenges – not least the danger that they themselves may have succumbed. To aid in managing and reducing the opioid epidemic, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has created a series of helpful resources outlining best practices, a more general overview of the role of ineffective pain management in fueling the opioid epidemic, and proposals for how the situation can be improved on a national level.
One thing you can't hide—is when you're crippled inside.
A host of treatment/deterrence options are available to health care practitioners when working with patients suffering from a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) including medication-assisted treatments, prescription drug monitoring programs, and voluntary monitoring programs. An understanding of the methodologies, benefits, and drawbacks of each approach is of critical importance for nurses.
The greatest evil is physical pain.
Ongoing chronic pain lasting more than three months is reported annually by between 11% - 40% of the U.S. population. While prescribed opioid use can be a very effective treatment to deal with acute pain, few studies have assessed the long-term benefits of opioids in reducing pain.
While clearly a society-wide issue, the effect of the opioid epidemic on the nursing profession has been profound, and ANA has made advocating top-level solutions to alleviate the situation a high priority. Law-makers are actively engaged in introducing legislation related to opioid dependence, and ANA is fully focused on ensuring that the interests of nurses are taken into account when deliberating new legislation. For more information on legislative priorities of ANA, visit RN Action
To learn more about state actions or plans, see Prescribing Policies.
Ours can be a challenging profession, and as nurses, we are in no less danger of being personally affected by opioid dependence than the patients we treat. We want to help our colleagues who face such challenges. To that end, ANA has made dealing with SUD a central aspect of our Health Nurse, Healthy NationTM campaign.
Educational resources are available to nurses who want to teach or learn more about the dangers of the opioid crisis, as well as prevention and treatment strategies.
