Health Policy Brief (one-page leave behind) Assignment. Please follow the instructions, sample and rubric.

Fighting the Opioid Epidemic: Access to Naloxone in Virginia Schools HB 2318: Naloxone; Possession and administration by school nurses and local health department.

Overview of Policy

• The Naloxone bill was first introduced to the house on January 08, 2019 and was sponsored by Virginia House Delegate John McGuire.

• The bill involves school nurses, local health department employees and other school board employees or school board contracted employees.

• This bill allows properly trained school health officials to have Naloxone on hand and administer it when individuals in their care show signs and symptoms of opioid overdose.

Background

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that “Opioid Use Disorder is a problematic pattern of opioid use that causes significant impairment or distress” (CDC, 2017).

• It is estimated that between 2009 and 2014, approximately 2.1 million children “lived with at least one parent who specifically had a prescription drug or illicit drug use disorder” (Lipari and Van Horn, 2017).

• The school system in the country plays an important role in the participation of the opioid awareness and prevention within the communities (USDE, 2018).

• From 2015 to 2016, Virginia experienced 34.7% increase in drug overdose deaths (CDC, 2018).

• In 2017, the government “declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency” (USDE, 2018).

Evidence • The first health professional that responds to

school emergencies is the school nurse. • It is difficult to identify an opioid overdose, but

it is important to not delay treatment in case of doubt (CDC, 2019).

• If promptly used, intranasal naloxone can help to prevent drug overdose deaths (Rando et al., 2015).

• The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) published a position statement in support of school nurses having access to naloxone in June 2015.

• States that have passed legislation to address the opioid epidemic in their schools include:

Delaware House Bill No. 388 (2014) Maryland Senate Bill No. 1082 (2017)

West Virginia Senate Bill No. 36 (2017) New Jersey House Bill No. 1830 (2018)

Recommendations  We recommend the bill be passed due to the Opioid epidemic in our country that does not discriminate

against age; affecting young people in our school systems.  Nurses already possess the education and training needed to properly assess for signs and symptoms of

suspected opioid overdose.  After providing sufficient training, school employees and health department personnel should have access

and be able to administer Naloxone to individuals in their care.

References Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2017). Overdose Prevention. Retrieved from

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prevention/index.html Lipari, R. N., & Van Horn, S. L. (2017). Children living with parents who have a substance use disorder. The CBHSQ

Report: August 24, 2017. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

National Association of School Nurses. (2015). Naloxone use in the school setting: The role of the school nurse (position statement). Silver Spring, MD: Author. Rando, J., Broering, D., Olson, J.E., Marco, C., Evans, S.B. (2015). Intranasal Naloxone Administration by Police First

Responders is Associated with Decreased Opioid Overdose Deaths. American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 33(9), 1201-1204.

United States Department of Education (2019). Combating the Opioid and Other Substance Misuse: Schools, Students, Families. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/opioids

Points were deducted in the recommendation area. Because recommendation # 2 is actually background information not a recommendation