A Review of the Opioid Epidemic: Interventions Nurses Can Use to Address Addiction

The opioid epidemic is one closely related to the heroin epidemic located in the United States and is tied to the over-prescription of opioid pharmaceuticals to patients experiencing chronic non-malignant pain. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize and analyze studies on interventions that Registered Nurses and Nurse Practitioners may use in the spectrum of opioid therapy beginning with prescription, through bedside care and care management, and ending with policy. A search of the literature using CINAHL, PubMed, Embase and PsychInfo was conducted, with 15 articles being utilized in this review. A PRISMA chart is found in Figure One. The themes of these studies comprise the benchmarks of a chronic opioid patient care spectrum: care management, nursing care process, and prescription policy. Main takeaways from these studies include that there is a need for standardization in opioid prescription, utilization of pre-screenings for abuse risk in patients, prescription monitoring program enrollment, policy change for inclusive treatment options, and continued monitoring with the implementation of complementary and alternative therapies in conjunction with opioid therapy.Bachelor of Scienc