Opioids Archives

Opioids

Acute pain management in the trauma patient on chronic opiate therapy

April 19, 2017

Key takeaways Multimodal therapy is essential in treating acute traumatic pain for patients on opioid maintenance therapy. Patients on opioid maintenance therapy or with chronic opioid use can…

Are you running short of injectable opioids?

May 7, 2018

By Julie Cullen, Managing Editor, American Nurse Today In March, CNN reported on an opioid shortage caused by problems with manufacturing as well as government restrictions in an…

Compared to nsNSAIDs and coxibs, opioid use in older adults with arthritis increases risk of safety events

December 11, 2010

In older adults with arthritis, opioid use increases the risk of fractures and safety events requiring hospitalization, compared to nonselective NSAIDs (nsNSAIDs) and selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors (coxibs),…

FDA issue draft guidance on making opioids harder to abuse

January 11, 2013

On Jan. 9, 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a draft guidance document to assist industry in developing new formulations of opioid drugs with that…

FDA issues warning letter for medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder

January 8, 2020

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning letter to Alkermes, Inc. due to misbranding on the drug Vivitrol, which is used to prevent opioid…

Improving outcomes in med-surg patients with opioid-induced respiratory depression

November 11, 2011

Myth debunking and better recognition of respiratory compromise can help prevent deaths.

Joint Commission issues Sentinel Event Alert on opioid use in hospitals

August 11, 2012

On Aug. 8, The Joint Commission released the Sentinel Event Alert, “Safe use of opioids in hospitals.” The Alert warns of opioid-induced respirator depression and offers strategies for…

New pain drug developed

September 11, 2013

Researchers have developed a new opioid drug, UMB 425, which is as strong as morphine, but has reduced tolerance over time and no obvious toxic effects. The drug…

Opioid and non-opioid analgesia during surgery

May 9, 2018

Understanding how and why anesthesia providers select analgesic agents. Takeaways: Many options exist for managing intraoperative and postoperative surgical pain. Medications used for pain management can be broken…

Opioids vs non-opioids: Which are better?

March 7, 2018

In some situations, the answer may be neither. In a recent randomized clinical trial of 240 patients with moderate to severe chronic back pain or hip or knee…

Prescribed opioids among pregnant women may have contributed to increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome

January 14, 2016

The increase in use of prescribed opioids among women during pregnancy has probably contributed to the rise in neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to an editorial in BMJ. Read…

Preventing complications in patients receiving opioids

December 11, 2013

Understand the terms opioid tolerant and opioid naïve so you can safely administer opioids and protect patients.

The case for capnography in patients receiving opioids

September 7, 2014

It’s your worst nightmare: At 8 A.M., you walk into the room of Laura M, a 35-year-old patient who had surgery yesterday, for your morning assessment. She’s unresponsive. The…

The opioid crisis and the matter of consent

June 6, 2018

Lives in the balance By Leah Curtin, RN, ScD(h), FAAN It’s 3 am and you’re called to an apartment complex for a person down. You arrive and find…

Treating pain while mindful of opioid risks

October 2, 2020

Nurses can help avoid negative effects of opioids while ensuring patient pain is managed. Takeaways: Pain management can be complicated by individual patients’ previous pain experiences, genetics, ability…

Two sides to the opioid crisis

March 12, 2018

Anne Fuqua, a former nurse, recently shared her opioid crisis story in the Washington Post. But it’s not the story you might be expecting to hear. Anne isn’t…

What works: Managing opioid overdose in the community

October 15, 2019

Takeaways: To help reduce the rise in opioid prescriptions, misuse, and overdose, healthcare professionals must improve their pain management knowledge, decrease opioid prescriptions as appropriate, and provide patients…

What you should know about first-line pain medications

December 2, 2014

Safe, effective pain control hinges on a multimodal approach that addresses the cause of pain and uses medications and other interventions that relieve the patient’s specific type of…