Our group is researching the most effective methods of decreasing opioid overdoses of Americans aged 18-50. As future nurses, we are learning about the frightening trend of opioid overdoses. The numbers have consistently been increasing since the opioid epidemic began in the 1990s. Nurses work in a variety of departments and each field has patients affected by this crisis. Our group studied different treatment plans to reduce overdose and the ways that people can become addicted. We reviewed systemic reviews, randomized control trials, and correlational design studies. We concluded that this research needs to continue to find the most effective way to reduce overdose cases. In addition, there are prevention strategies to stop addiction before it starts like alternative pain management. Within our articles, we found that nurses are not receiving enough education on the opioid crisis and pain management in order for nurses to adequately care for those struggling. One of our findings throughout this research was for more time to be spent on these topics during nursing school. Another finding was to increase the educational programs in high-risk areas such as prisons and to increase opioid overdose prevention programs. With this education, people can understand the effects of opioid overdose and how to prevent opioid overdoses from happening with education towards administering Narcan. When we graduate into nurses, it is crucial that we advocate for our patients by identifying who is at risk and who is addicted so that we can treat them in the most successful safe manner. In order to prevent opioid overdoses, it starts in the hospital. It has been proven that opioid overdoses are at a higher risk for people that have been prescribed the opioid.
Authors: Caroline Leonard, Erin Chapin, Halle Gordon, Halle Vozar, Suzanna Lang
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Eyad Musallam, Department of Nursing
You must be logged in to post a comment.