Informative Essay On Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic. It is deadly and has risen over the past decade or so to become one of the leading causes of death in America. It is an issue that we as nurses are uniquely situated to make a defining impact on. As nurses, it is our duty to educate patients, families, and anybody else we can. It is a nurse’s responsibility to teach the people who we meet about all the ways they can recognize an improperly proscribed pain medication or potential opioid addiction, an overdose, and what to do if they find themselves in a situation where someone is overdosing on an opioid drug. Before one can begin to teach how to recognize and respond to these things, one must know what an opioid is. An opioid is a drug that depresses or decreases central nervous stimulation. When used properly and medicinally opioid are very useful for treating short term and acute pain. Opioids have high abuse potential because if a person uses an opioid when they are
Many opioid addictions are caused by patients who continue to take and refill their opioid pain medication after their medical need has been fulfilled. Nurses need to educate family members to pay attention to details like there family member complaining of pain only when seeing a health care professional or recreational use of their medication. It is vital to teach patients that they should not attempt to continue there medication for chronic pain once the pain has abated. They should know it is important to notify their health care provider if their pain lessens. Also, it is important that the family knows that they can go to a health care professional about their concerns and that the most important thing is that their family member receives help. Most opioid addictions result from improper use or continued use of opioid pain medication and can lead to things like heroin