Chronic pain has a multidimensional effect on a person’s life and ultimately changes life completely. Pain that is chronic and debilitating can cause stress & anxiety, sleeping problems, family/relationship worries, financial stress, and can lead to unemployment. Chronic pain is defined as, “any pain that lasts for more than three months. The pain can become progressively worse and reoccur intermittently, outlasting the usual healing process. After injured tissue heals, pain is expected to stop once the underlying cause is treated, per conventional ideas of pain”. (Spine-Health, 2017) These issues inevitably increase the pain from an actual injury to the inability to cope with life completely. For a person suffering from chronic pain, the
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“The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes the central role nurses have in addressing this crisis and has set out to develop resources aimed at prompting a comprehensive approach”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis "). As nurses, confronting this crisis by using the resources available will increase our education, knowledge, skills and abilities. Resources provided and supported by the ANA include prescriber education and training, deterrent formulations and increasing access to opioid antagonist such as naloxone. “The ANA believes that the current crisis calls for additional support and focus on prescriber education to prepare practitioners to effectively and safely prescribe opioids”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis “). “Issues surrounding abuse and misuse of prescription opioids must be balanced with the real and legitimate needs of those seeking treatment for pain and developing deterrent formulations is an important tool in preventing abuse”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis ") Another resource nurses have available is Naloxone which prevents the overdose of opioids. With proper education, “the ANA supports increasing access to Naloxone for first responders, families, friends and caregivers of those who are known to be chronic users of …show more content…
If a person does however become addicted to a narcotic, there are evaluative processes and treatment plans to help a patient overcome their addiction. Treatment requires ongoing behavioral changes and hope that their body can accept another form of pain relief. For the future of the opioid crisis, I feel it is all about customer satisfaction. If the patient is not happy with their level of treatment and relief of pain, then that is portrayed as a disgrace to that doctor or healthcare team. Nursing is about patient centered care and quality of care, and if the patient isn’t satisfied with an order for ice & heat packs and exercise for 30 minutes a day instead of a pain pill, then the doctor or clinician is more likely to prescribe an opioid pain med without knowing whether the patient is truly in pain or what is causing
“The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes the central role nurses have in addressing this crisis and has set out to develop resources aimed at prompting a comprehensive approach”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis "). As nurses, confronting this crisis by using the resources available will increase our education, knowledge, skills and abilities. Resources provided and supported by the ANA include prescriber education and training, deterrent formulations and increasing access to opioid antagonist such as naloxone. “The ANA believes that the current crisis calls for additional support and focus on prescriber education to prepare practitioners to effectively and safely prescribe opioids”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis “). “Issues surrounding abuse and misuse of prescription opioids must be balanced with the real and legitimate needs of those seeking treatment for pain and developing deterrent formulations is an important tool in preventing abuse”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis ") Another resource nurses have available is Naloxone which prevents the overdose of opioids. With proper education, “the ANA supports increasing access to Naloxone for first responders, families, friends and caregivers of those who are known to be chronic users of …show more content…
If a person does however become addicted to a narcotic, there are evaluative processes and treatment plans to help a patient overcome their addiction. Treatment requires ongoing behavioral changes and hope that their body can accept another form of pain relief. For the future of the opioid crisis, I feel it is all about customer satisfaction. If the patient is not happy with their level of treatment and relief of pain, then that is portrayed as a disgrace to that doctor or healthcare team. Nursing is about patient centered care and quality of care, and if the patient isn’t satisfied with an order for ice & heat packs and exercise for 30 minutes a day instead of a pain pill, then the doctor or clinician is more likely to prescribe an opioid pain med without knowing whether the patient is truly in pain or what is causing