The Addiction Epidemic
You are an acute care nurse practitioner who works in an urban emergency room (ER). You see many people who come to the ER who have overdosed (OD) on heroin. Emergency medical services personnel may administer a drug that might reverse the overdose such as naloxone (Narcan).
You may see three ODs during each 12-hour shift; some of these patients are admitted to the hospital, and others are sent home with a consultation for psychiatric followup. You are becoming hardened to the issue and have begun to question what you can do to address this epidemic.
Discussion Points
1. You hear that the state health director is convening a task force. List four actions you can take to be invited to participate in this task force.
2. Which other healthcare professionals should be included on the task force? 3. Which state agencies and regulatory boards could add value to the discussion?
4. Which information/experience could the APRN use to lead a discussion about widespread addiction?
5. Identify three issues that might be brought up at a meeting that could derail a focus on public safety. Which tactics can the nurse use to bring the discussion back to the issue of safety?
6. Which design tactics could be considered when writing a policy to address this issue?
7. How can information about this issue be disseminated within the profession and to those outside the profession?
References
Advisory Board. (2017, February 7). Many Americans think repealing Obamacare won’t repeal the ACA, survey finds. Retrieved from https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2017/02/09 /many-americans-think-repealing-the-aca# Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. R., Cheung, R. B., Sloane, D. M., & Silber, J. H. (2003). Educational levels of hospital nurses and surgical patient mortality. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(12), 1617–1623. Aiken, L. H., Cimotti, J. P., Sloane, D. M., Smith, H. L., Flynn, L., & Neff, D. E. (2012). Effects of nurse staffing and nursing education on patient deaths in hospitals with different work environments. Medical Care, 49(12), 1047–1053. Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Bruyneel, L., Van den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., Busse, R., . . . Sermeus, W. (2014). Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: A retrospective observational study. Lancet, 383(9931), 1824–1830. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Overview of CDC’s policy process. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/policy /analysis/process/docs/cdcpolicyprocess.pdf FTC policy paper examines competition and the regulation of APRNs. (2014). American Nurse, 46(3), 11. Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. (2014). Publications. Retrieved from http://www.macyfoundation .org/publications/publications/aligning-interprofessional-education
