How State Board Nursing Practice Standards and Organizational or Governmental Policies Affect the Quality of Care, Safety, and Cost of Opioid Crisis

The American Nursing Association (ANA) recognizes the opioid epidemic and outlines nursing standards of practice as part of nurses’ interventions in the crisis. It requires nurses to provide preventive care by educating vulnerable groups on the harmful effects of opioid analgesics. It also requires nurses to provide basic care to patients presenting with overdose and addiction. Due to their role in patient handling, nurses should enhance prescription monitoring to support appropriate pain management using opioids and to enable early recognition of misuse. These efforts will safeguard the safety of the patients and uphold quality improvement measures outlined by the CDC. The establishment of the prescription drug monitoring programs, as required by the HHS, and its consequent rollout ensured greater accountability for patients taking prescription opioid analgesics. Nurse prescribers should know about these programs to heighten their patient monitoring role.

Federal policies such as the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promote Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act and the Opioid Crisis Review Act (OCRA) also play a role in quality and safety enhancement measures. These legal provisions enhance preventive approaches as intervention measures to the crisis and promote the treatment of opioid abuse disorder. These provisions act as safety and quality safeguards as they protect the affected patients from the devastating consequences of these disorders. They also lessen the economic burden that would have otherwise been incurred if the patient’s quality of life deteriorates. Rizk et al. (2019 ) opine that opioid stewardship in healthcare facilities has significantly improved the quality of care provided, the safety of the patients, and the healthcare burden of the epidemic. Policies that support care interventions thus maintain significance in containing the epidemic and should be promoted.

Nursing standards on nursing interventions in the crisis and the policy provision on care provision inform nurses’ roles in containing the crisis. In this regard, they should use their nursing knowledge and skills in caring to provide basic care to patients with substance abuse disorder and overdose. They should also employ their advocacy skills in policy formulation processes required for bettering currently available interventions for containing the epidemic. Polices on opioid crisis interventions that target preventive approaches, early identification through prescription drug monitoring programs, and antidote availability may effectively reduce mortality risks and the prevalence of opioid addicts and those presenting with overdose. As health educators, nurses should engage in preventive care by educating vulnerable groups on the harmful effects of opioid misuse and how it jeopardizes their safety.

Policy provisions on opioid crisis interventions focus on enhancing access to treatment and preventive care. However, the nursing scope of practice on chronic pain management, opioid use disorder, practice authority, opioid analgesic prescribing, and comprehensive patient education on opioid use disorders are still limited. Nikpour & Broome (2021) note that these limitations are yet to meet their intended goal of reducing misuse of prescription opioid overdose. These limitations jeopardize nurses’ ability to conform to the SUPPORT Act provisions and the ANA standards that require nurses and other caregivers to assume an active role in preventing care by providing a comprehensive education to at-risk patients. The overall effect may be visible in quality and safety reductions in care processes involving patients with overdose and addiction from opioid use and those at risk, ultimately increasing healthcare costs.