Lethbridge College NSG 2279: Naloxone and Opioid Overdose in Alberta

This report delves into the critical role of Naloxone in addressing the opioid crisis, particularly in Alberta. It begins by outlining the problem of opioid misuse and the physiological and psychological effects of opioid addiction, highlighting the increasing rate of opioid exploitation. The report then focuses on Naloxone, detailing its mechanism of action as an opioid antagonist and its significance in emergency situations. It explores the relevance of the issue in Canada, emphasizing the easy availability of opioids like heroin and fentanyl. The report examines the role of nurses in managing opioid overdose, including monitoring, providing education, and planning campaigns to minimize substance use. It discusses the rationale for Naloxone use, including the planning of campaign programs, and the ethical responsibilities associated with prescribing the drug, such as ensuring patient knowledge and providing person-centered care. Furthermore, the report presents demographic data related to opioid poisoning in Alberta, including death rates, emergency department visits, and Naloxone kit distribution. It also highlights governmental steps taken to address the crisis, such as the free distribution of Naloxone kits. Finally, the report concludes by emphasizing the effectiveness of Naloxone and the importance of nurses and governmental actions in mitigating the opioid crisis, while also suggesting measures to restrict substance purchase and improve surveillance.

NALOXONE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Authors note

OPIOID
 Opioid use is one of the leading issues in all over the
world which is affecting the health of the man kind.
 Opioids are generally used to treat pain and addiction
to this causes severe physiologically and psychological
problems (Huecker, Azardfard & Leaming, 2019).
 The rate of population exploiting opioid is increasing
in a drastic amount.

SIDE EFFECTS OF OPIOIDS
 The excessive use of opioids can lead to many
complications of the body.
 It may cause respiratory depressant problems.
 Vomiting, nausea, miosis, rigidity are some common
issues (National Academics of Sciences, Engineering
and Medicine, 2017).
 It may also lead to depression, anxiety, constipation.

NALOXONE
 Naloxone is a drug used as an antagonist for opioid
overdose or addiction (Rzasa & Galinkin, 2018).
 Naloxone is a drug that helps in persevering the effects
of opioid overdose and also opioid poisoning.
 It helps in blocking the symptoms such as drowsiness,
unconsciousness and breathing issues.
 This drug has it’s a great impact in controlling narcotic
overdose among the patients in emergency visit.

MECHANISM OF ACTION
 The drug Naloxone binds to the mu-receptor which is
present body.
 The binding takes place with high affinity with the mu
receptor and with less affinity with the gamma-
receptor (Jordan & Morrisonponce, 2019).
 All these acts as an antagonist towards an opioid.

RELEVANCE OF THE ISSUE
 The rate of drug misuse especially opioid is growing at
a drastic level in Canada (Belzak & Halverson, 2018).
 The rate increased due to easy availability of the drug
and its access.
 The most available substances are heroin, morphine's,
fentanyl.
 To control the situation the naloxone is used in
emergency purposes to mass the effects of opioids.
 The nurses plays an important role in managing the
condition by providing medications modalities.

DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS
 Nurses plays an important role in monitoring the
overdose condition.
 Opioids provides a long lasting impact upon the
nervous system, the modulation of antagonist drugs
can be well managed by the practitioners.
 The nurse can plan campaigns, provide knowledge
about the risk factors about the substances and help in
minimizing the use (Guest et al., 2017).

RATIONALE
 The planning of campaign program in advising to use
Naloxone will help in reducing chronic diseases like
heart attacks, breathing issues (Guest et al., 2017). .
 The nurse can also teach the population to use nasal
spray of Naloxone which will provide instant relief
anytime without any help of practioners.
 Nurses can plan to provide free kits of Naloxone drugs
which will be beneficial for the poor society.

RULES FOR PRESCRIBING THE
DRUG
 The guideline states that the team or the practitioners
must be able to train and educate the person receiving
the drug.
 It also states that the practitioners must be able to
respect the privacy, dignity, and autonomy of
individual who is receiving the drug.
 The drug dose and the effect in the body must be well
monitored by professionals.
 The practitioners must be having a license in providing
the drug.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
 The nurses must ensure that the individual receiving
the treatment must have complete knowledge and
benefits of the drugs ("Ethics for Registered Nurses",
2020).
 The nurse must be avail to identify the opioid overdose
among the individual.
 The correct dose must be applied and great importance
must be given in the route of administration of the
drug.

 The nurses must provide person-centered care towards
any affected individual.
 The nurse must keep and maintain a well document of
the patient including the patient history, current
medications, other complex diseases.
 The higher authorities must be informed immediately
in case of detoriation ("Ethics for Registered Nurses",
2020).

ROLE OF NURSES
 The nurse can lead and rise a campaign and provide a
free toxicology lab testing which will detect the
problem.
 The nurse can collaborate with health and educational
institute and provide knowledge about the harmful side
effects of substance use.
 Non-pharmacological treatments such as healthy diet,
mental health therapy can be offered to the patients.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF OPIOID POISONING
RATE OF ACCIDENTAL FENTANYL POISONING AMONG MALE
AND FEMALE IN 2019. (ALBERTA, 2020)

DEATH RATE IN ALBERTA DUE
TO DRUG CONSUMPTION FROM
2016-2018 (ALBERTA, 2020)

RATE OF VISIT IN EMERGENCY
DEPARTMENT (ALBERTA, 2020)

RATE OF HOSPITALIZATION FROM
2015-2018 (ALBERTA, 2020)

NALOXONE KIT DISTRIBUTED
FROM 2016- 2019 (ALBERTA, 2020)

SUPERVISION OF CONSUMPTION
OF THE DRUG (ALBERTA, 2020)

GOVERNMENTAL STEPS
 The government plays an important role in addressing
the huge opioid risk.
 Three major steps taken- oversight, operation and
funding
 The government implemented free distribution of
Naloxone kits.
 It consists of naloxone injections, safe syringes, swabs,
mask and a guideline to get quick remedy from opioid
overdose ("Funding and Management of Naloxone
Programs in Canada | CADTH.ca", 2020).

COMPARISON WITH OTHER
COUNTRY
 British Columbia is also affected by this opioid crisis.
 The country founded ‘The BC Drug Overdose and
Alert Partnership’ to reduce the condition (Shaw et al.,
2019).
 Naloxone is also introduced in this country to reduce
the harmful effect.
 enhanced surveillance in terms of data analysis, lab
testing, improve plans has been performed by country.

CONCLUSION
 The opioid crisis is very high in Alberta.
 Naloxone, drug serves as an effective medication in
providing a quick relief.
 The government has started distributing Naloxone kits
to address this issue.
 The nurses provides person-centered care in reducing
the addiction along with educating the families and
peers.
 However, the situation can be controlled more by
restricting the purchase of substances and also doing a
regular surveillance.

REFERENCES
Alberta. (2020). Alberta Health, Analytics and Performance Reporting Branch Alberta
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