Oakland University Hosts Interprofessional Workshop on Opioid Crisis

Oakland University recently hosted its second annual Interprofessional Workshop on Opioid Abuse, designed to help participants become more familiar with recent government legislation and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control on opioid use. The workshop included students from the School of Nursing, School of Medicine, and School of Health Sciences.

One of the nation’s worst public health crises, the Trump Administration has declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. According to Oakland.edu, the US Department of Health and Human Services reported that 116 people died each day from opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016. As a result, recent legislation has made it mandatory for medical professionals to talk to patients about the risks of addictions when opioids are prescribed.

The interprofessional workshop was intended to bring together students and professionals from different health care specialties to learn how to optimize patient care as it relates to preventing opioid addiction and overdose. Keynote speakers addressed issues surrounding opioids, emphasizing the need to educate patients and adhere to protocols for prescribing opioids, as well as highlighted non-opioid pain management strategies.

Jeffrey Jackson, a student in the Oakland University-Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia, tells Oakland.edu, “The medical community must come to a consensus so there are not contradictory messages coming from different healthcare providers. Health professionals must recognize that all members of the healthcare team are important to achieve the goal of mitigating the opioid crisis.”

True patient-centered care is essential to mitigating the ongoing opioid crisis and will require interprofessional collaboration and care. To learn more about Oakland University’s workshop on the opioid crisis, visit here.