How Nurses Can Help Prevent Opioid Addiction

Opioid addiction is an epidemic in every US state. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine has linked opioid-addicted patients to the very first provider who prescribed the medication. The researchers found a correlation between the pain-prescription habits of emergency room physicians and the frequency of their patients becoming opioid-addicted. (You can read an article in the New York Times about the research here.) The bottom line? The risk of opioid addiction begins with a single exposure to narcotic pain medications—which frequently occurs during an emergency room (ER) visit.

Naturally, prescribers are in the most control: They can limit the quantity of pills prescribed after an incident, or change their prescription habits to restrict the instances warranting their use. For example, instead of patients leaving the ER with a prescription for 30 oxycodone tablets after a sprained ankle, they can prescribe 5 pills. Better still, they can prescribe ibuprofen, ice, and rest; if that becomes insufficient for pain control at home, pharmacologic methods can then be addressed.

Although physicians and advanced practice providers write the prescriptions, it is the nurses who most often provide medication education to patients at the time of discharge. It is therefore the nurse’s responsibility to ensure adequate patient education and to stress the dangers of taking opioids to their patients—even before they ever start taking the medication. Now more than ever researchers are discovering that a single exposure to these dangerous medications is enough to put opioid-naive patients at risk for addiction.

Set expectations. Patients may have a right to pain control, but they also have a right to know just how many risks opioids bring. After an injury, many patients seem to think they will be instantly pain free. It is important to manage expectations that some degree of pain after an injury or illness is normal, as their body heals and recuperates. It is when the pain become unbearable that they should turn to pharmacological relief.

Discuss alternatives. After a musculoskeletal injury, other methods of pain control can be useful. Consider teaching patients to RICE (rest, ice, compress, and elevate) their injuries, and offer other methods of pain control such as distraction, positioning, massage, heat, and ice.

Lay out the risk of addiction. Narcotic drugs are very risky medications. Teach your patients that they are dangerous and may cause addiction even in small uses. Tell your patients to take the medications very sparingly, and be firm with your language. Patients trust nurses, and their cautious attitudes can affect patient perceptions and behaviors.

Review the unpleasant side effects. Opioid pain medications have a number of serious side effects and complications. Emphasize that your patient may experience sedation, constipation, dry mouth, tolerance or dependence, confusion, nausea, dizziness, or itching as a result of using the drug. Remind them that they cannot drive while taking the medication. Teach also that they may experience withdrawal symptoms after use.

Teach the symptoms of overdose and addiction. If the patient feels like they need more of the pills to feel normal or relief, this is a sign of increasing dependence and tolerance on the drug, and they should seek medical advice. If the patient has slurred speech; feels lethargic, foggy, or confused; is difficult to arouse or has loss of consciousness; or experiences a decreased respiratory rate, small pupils, or cold clammy skin, they may be experiencing an overdose and need immediate medical attention.

Nurses may think that since they do not prescribe the medications, they have no contribution to the opioid epidemic in this country. However, as some of the most trusted professionals in health care, it is the nurse’s role to properly educate, set realistic pain management expectations, and relay the serious risks of taking these medications.