Thank, you

POST DISCUSSION REPLY COM HEALTH NURS WEEK 8

A global health concern that is prevalent in my community is opioid abuse, particularly Fentanyl. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Fentanyl has been the cause of numerous cardiac and pulmonary arrests in the ED that I work in, as well as at an all-time high in my state. From 2019 to 2020, the number of opioid-related overdoses increased by 59% (SCDHEC, 2022). Fentanyl has been known to be present in trace amounts in common street drugs, or illegally obtained prescription drugs.  Fentanyl is 50-100 times more potent than Morphine and is cheap to purchase. This makes it not just extremely deadly, but easy to obtain and 'cut' other drugs with, causing deadly interactions and frequent overdoses (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2021).  I am treating more and more overdoses on a daily basis, which proves that the problem is only worsening. 

In the EHR system, we can see patient's demographics, living situation, history, prior visits, and trend their lab work, scans, and other treatments that have been rendered. The problem with this is that it may be their first visit to this facility, or the nurse conducting the initial assessment did not or could not fully obtain their information. Also, those addicted to drugs tend to be poor historians and withhold information from healthcare workers. On the flip side, EHRs such as Epic are connected to other facilities that support the same software, which makes deciphering the truth much more feasible. It could be used on a patient to identify treatments that did not work in the past and allows us as nurses to review notes written by other clinicians and healthcare workers to better understand the patient and their history. Although writing lengthy notes and charting thoroughly is not always possible in a busy hospital, but this is a great example of why we should go the extra mile in our notes and charting whenever possible. 

A tweet shared from Just Plain Killers stated "Some alternatives to opioids may actually work better and have fewer risks and side effects depending on the type of pain you are experiencing. Ask your doctor about alternatives." This is important to me because there are many efficient alternatives to opiates that are sufficient for most types of pain. With that being said, some patients need pain relief that only comes in the form of narcotics. They had been overprescribed for many years, and today we, as healthcare professionals are paying the price. Educating patients on the risks of opiate use and encouraging them to use additional analgesics is the first step. Unfortunately, we cannot always identify 'med-seeking' behavior, an index of suspicion should arise in certain situations. Narcotics should rarely be the first-line treatment for pain control. We, as nurses have to advocate for our patients and educate them. 

Tweet: Opiate prescriptions have declined 25% in the last year, with overdoses declining 40%. This is a far cry from the 2019-2020 statistic that saw a 59% increase in opiate related overdoses. This is a step in the right direction. We, as healthcare professionals are fighting the epidemic of opiate abuse one patient at a time. #educationsaveslives #alternativepaincontrol #fighttogether #fentanylkills

 

Just Plain Killers, 2023 - SC DAODAS. Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://justplainkillers.com/

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, June 1).  Fentanyl DrugFacts. National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institute of Health. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/fentanyl

South Carolina Overdose Death Data for 2020 Shows Stark Increase during First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic | SCDHEC. (n.d.). Scdhec.gov. https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/south-carolina-overdose-death-data-2020-shows-stark-increase-during-first-year-covid

South Carolina Is Seeing A “Fentanyl Surge” - FITSNews. (2022, March 15). https://www.fitsnews.com/2022/03/15/south-carolina-is-seeing-a-fentanyl-surge/

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