PN1005 Pharmacology: Opioids Benefits, Drawbacks, Implications

This report delves into the multifaceted aspects of opioid use, examining their benefits and drawbacks within the context of healthcare, specifically focusing on nursing practice. The report begins with an introduction to pharmacotherapy and the role of opioids in pain management. It then explores the benefits of opioids, such as their effectiveness in alleviating moderate to severe pain and anxiety, particularly in situations like early labor and post-surgical recovery. The report also acknowledges the significant drawbacks, including the potential for addiction, dependence, respiratory issues, and various side effects like constipation and nausea. Furthermore, the implications for nursing practice are thoroughly discussed, emphasizing the nurse's role in safe opioid administration, patient education, monitoring for side effects, and contributing to the management of the opioid epidemic. The report highlights the need for nurses to stay informed about opioids, assess patients' pain and respiratory status, and advocate for safe medication practices to prevent misuse and overdose, ultimately aiming to provide a balanced perspective on the use of opioids in healthcare.

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

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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

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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

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labour when the paint might be getting problematic to cope with, however, is not yet as serious
as it can become in the later phase of labour (Costello, & Thompson, 2015). The opioid can be
effective in pain management associated with diabetic neuropathy, low back pain, chronic
pancreatitis, and fibromyalgia. Majority of the physician believes that this drug is safe for the
baby too when given to the labouring mother. Another benefit of taking this drug is that it can
take very less time (fast-acting) to relive the pain (Thielke et al., 2014). They can be used in the
post-surgical pain and serious pain caused by disorder like cancer.
These drugs do not come deprived of risks or drawbacks. There is a number of
disadvantages of using these drugs including addiction and dependency, breathing issues etc. the
majority of the individuals with chronic pain take this drug for a long time which results in
physical dependence and addiction. The body of the patient adopts the availability of opioids and
withdrawal signs occur of the drug dosage is reduced or stopped (Stotts, Dodrill & Kosten,
2009). Opioid pain relievers are recognised as the most extensively misused and abused drug
caused most unintentional drug poisoning deaths, due to the long term use of this narcotics.
Opioids can also restrict the patient's ability to respire when taken at the higher dosage, and when
misused, might result in a fatal overdose. The threat of developing respiratory depression
enhances if the patient was never taking the opioid before or if they are prescribed with other
drugs that can interact with opioids. Opioids incline to affect elders and kids more than grown-
ups, thus these populaces must be watched even more prudently (Mandal, 2017). Enhanced
absorption might occur from the transdermal opioid formulation with the fever or other different
intercurrent illness, and when the patient came in contact with the external heat, such as a hot
bath or the sauna. Some of the other side effects may occur after the administration of opioids
such as constipation, drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. This drug can be more dangerous if

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taken with alcohol or with drugs like antidepressants, antibiotics, and sleeping pills
(Manchikanti, Atluri, Grider & Kaye, 2015).
Implications of nursing practice
Nurses can play a key role in the safe administration of opioid as they are the core
member of the health care team. The epidemic of opioid is the serious community health
problem, occurs from the enhanced usage of the prescription and illegal opioid medication
(Costello, & Thompson, 2015). Nurses have the responsibility to be involved in the opioid
administration and educate the patients and the community related to the current opioids
epidemic. The nurse must increase their own knowledge and keep updating their understanding
about the problems, properly and adequately examine and managing patient’s pain and advocate
the diseased person and their family about the safe use of the drug. The nurse must be
knowledgeable of both benefits and risks associated with the use of opioid and other drugs
(Costello, Thompson, Aurelien & Luc, 2016). Dependence double checks of the diseased person
must be performed by the nurses in addition to assessing the respiration quality and signs of
opposing reaction. The drug must be administered by the nurses to reach the pain score that the
diseased person and physicians collectively agreed before the administration. This can reduce
unrealistic pain management expectation and decrease overdose risks. After administering the
drug to the patient-nurse must assess the patient for side effects associated with opioids. In the
long term use of this drug, the nurse can help in limiting the use of the drug according to the
physician's prescription, this may reduce the chances of drug addiction and dependency
(Costello, & Thompson, 2015).

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Conclusion
Opioids are the drug used to reduce the pain associated with different health conditions
like cancer. There are different health benefits opioids have including, fast relief from pain,
reduce the anxiety related to the pain, and safe in pregnancy for both mother and child. However,
it also has some drawback or disadvantages inducing, drug addiction and decadency due to long
term use, constipation, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. Nurses can play an important role in
the safe administration of this drug through educating the patient about the drug, double-check of
dependency, assessing respiration issues, and limiting the use of opioids in the long term therapy
as recommended by the doctor.

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References
Costello, M., & Thompson, S. (2015). Preventing opioid misuse and potential abuse: The nurse's
role in patient education. Pain Management Nursing, 16(4), 515-519.
Costello, M., Thompson, S., Aurelien, J., & Luc, T. (2016). Patient opioid education: Research
shows nurses' knowledge of opioids makes a difference. MedSurg Nursing, 25(5), 307.
Manchikanti, L., Atluri, S., Grider, J. S., & Kaye, A. D. (2015). Pros and Cons of Opioids and
Prediction of Sustained Use Provide Long-awaited Answers With Clarity. The Clinical
journal of pain, 31(7), 672.
Mandal, M. (2017). Opioids as co-induction agents-the pros and cons. International journal of
critical illness and injury science, 7(2), 77.
Stotts, A. L., Dodrill, C. L., & Kosten, T. R. (2009). Opioid dependence treatment: options in
pharmacotherapy. Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy, 10(11), 1727-1740.
Thielke, S. M., Turner, J. A., Shortreed, S. M., Saunders, K., LeResche, L., Campbell, C. I., ... &
Korff, M. V. (2014). Do patient-perceived pros and cons of opioids predict sustained
higher-dose use?. The Clinical journal of pain, 30(2).
Volkow, N., Benveniste, H., & McLellan, A. T. (2018). Use and misuse of opioids in chronic
pain. Annual review of medicine, 69, 451-465.

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