Assignment task:
Please ensure that the Reply includes more than 200 words of scholarly articles and that the plagiarism level remains below 20%.
Sustainable Strategies for the Treatment of Chronic Pain While Reducing Opioid Misuse and Overdose
As the opioid epidemic sweeps the silver states of the United States, it emphasizes the need for healthcare trainees, especially advanced practice nurses, to implement safe and evidence-based techniques to treat chronic pain. Moreover, although opioids can be effective in the right setting, their potential for misuse, dependence, and overdose requires a judicious and multifaceted approach to patient care. Advanced practice nurses specializing in pharmacology must be aware of strategic approaches that enhance pain relief while decreasing adverse effects.
Risk-Benefit Assessment and Patient-Centered Care.
Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the patient's pain condition, medical history, and risk factors for opioid misuse is an important and necessary first step in the safe management of chronic pain. The Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) as well as the Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain-Revised (SOAPP-R) are tools that can help identify high-risk individuals (Butler et al., 2008). Shared decision-making is important: Patients should be informed about both opioid and non-opioid approaches and be involved in choosing the most appropriate treatment approach.
Use of Non-Opioids and Multimodal Pain Management
Doctors suggest multimodal pain management to decrease opioid use. Non-opioid pharmacologic options include acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antidepressants (i.e., duloxetine), anticonvulsants (i.e., gabapentin), and topical agents (Dowell et al., 2022). The treatment of chronic pain includes non-pharmacologic options like physical therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acupuncture, and interventional procedures (e.g., nerve blocks), among others.
Opioid Prescribing Practices That Are Safe
Guidance on evidence-based prescribing practices is imperative for patients who need opioids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises initiating treatment with the lowest effective dose of narcotics possible and, when practical, an immediate-release formulation (Dowell et al., 2022). Regular monitoring through urine drug screening, prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), and reassessment of pain and function facilitates early detection of opioid misuse. Co-prescribing naloxone for patients at risk of overdose is also an important harm reduction strategy.
Conclusion
By applying safer chronic pain management strategies, advanced practice nurses are pivotal to combating the opioid epidemic. In the absence of early detection and treatment through multimodal pain approaches and adherence to evidence-based guidelines on opioid prescribing, however, the risk for misuse and overdose becomes exceedingly high. Need Assignment Help?
References:
Butler, S. F., Fernandez, K., Benoit, C., Budman, S. H., & Jamison, R. N. (2008). Validation of the revised Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP-R). The Journal of Pain, 9(4), 360-372.
Dowell, D., Ragan, K. R., Jones, C. M., Baldwin, G. T., Chou, R., & Paulozzi, L. (2022). CDC clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids for pain-United States, 2022. MMWR Recommendations and Reports, 71(3), 1-95.
With opioid deaths increasing, AMA urges expansion of proven treatment | American Medical Association.