Abstract
The opioid epidemic is a national public health concern. Nurses are the largest portion of the health care workforce and play a critical role in education, recognition, and referral to treatment. The purpose of the current article is to offer recommendations for nurses caring for individuals using opioid drugs. Searches for abuse, nursing, opioid, opiate, prescription, identify, and treatment were performed using Ovid Nursing, PubMed, and CINAHL databases. Articles were judged based on title, keywords, and abstract to determine inclusion. Thirty-three articles were chosen for review. Articles were chosen based on relevance to nurses' roles in care for individuals who were prescribed or misusing opioid drugs. Nurses are health care providers who can assess patients for opioid use and/or dependency. Recognizing substance use disorders early may prevent death due to opioid drug misuse. Through patient assessment, education, and treatment referrals, nurses can reduce fatal consequences that may result from opioid drug use. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(9), 17-24.].
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