Opioids Use: Benefits, Drawbacks and Implications of Nursing Practice

Running Head: OPIOIDS
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Opioids Use
student
7/11/2019

OPIOIDS
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................... 2
Opioids...................................................................................................................... 2
Benefits and drawbacks of Opioids.................................................................................... 2
Implications of nursing practice........................................................................................ 4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 5
References..................................................................................................................... 6

OPIOIDS
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Introduction
In present days medicines have become an integral part of the health care system, there
are different types of medicines available for a particular health condition. Using pharmaceutical
drugs for diseases and healthcare conditions is called pharmacotherapy (Mandal, 2017). The
healthcare sector is flooded with medicines; therefore the physicians must be careful while
prescribing drugs and nurses must be knowledgeable of the advantages and disadvantages of the
drug being provided to the patient. One of the examples of a drug provided for pain management
is opioid (Stotts, Dodrill & Kosten, 2009). In this particular assessment report, the advantage and
disadvantages of this drug and the implication of nursing practice will be discussed.
Opioids
Opioids are the class of the drugs that involve the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioid
like fentanyl, and the pain relievers available lawfully by prescription for example oxycodone,
hydrocodone, and morphine. Opioid binds to the opioid receptor in the patient’s brain, spinal
cord, and other different areas of the body (Mandal, 2017). They produce analgesia through
acting on the central nervous system and inhibit the transmission of the nociceptive input and the
perception of the pain. These drugs are effective in relieving moderate to severe pain that may
not be treated with other drugs, but they can also have different side effects that may affect a
patient's health condition. In this regard nurses play a key role in addressing the issues associated
with Opioids (Volkow, Benveniste & McLellan, 2018).
Benefits and drawbacks of Opioids
One of the benefits of taking this drug relieves the patient's pain, in addition to the
anxiety that is linked to severe pain. This property of this drug is most effective in the early