Nurses' Knowledge and Attitude About Opioids

Overview

Opioid analgesics used in moderate or severe pain have potential side effects and addiction. Therefore, nurses have hesitations about opioid administration.This descriptive study aimed to evaluate the attitude and knowledge of nurses working in a university hospital about opioids. One hundred twenty-seven nurses were interviewed in the research population. The research data were obtained from the questionnaire, prepared by the researchers, between 01-05 June 2018. It consisted of three parts: descriptive characteristics, attitudes, and knowledge on opioid administration, and evaluation of basic nursing skills and pharmacology about opioids. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0 package program was used for statistical analysis.

Analgesics do not eliminate the cause of pain but reduce or eliminate that feeling. Non-steroid analgesics are preferred in mild and moderate, and opioids are used to moderate or severe pain that does not respond to anti-inflammatory agents. However, nurses avoid the administration of opioids because of side effects and addiction risk.The first step in the effectiveness of pain management in the emergency department is evaluation and control. Pain control should be included in the emergency management system from the stage of triage assessment of the patient and should be concluded with the correct analgesic use, if necessary. In emergency departments, waiting for analgesia can be prolonged unnecessarily, and mostly insufficient doses of analgesics administered.Mainly the use of opioids in the emergency department is not preferred much because it reduces the symptoms and masks the examination findings. However, against this conventional idea, recent studies have shown that opioids use reduces pain-related anxiety.Also, it increases the patients' participation in the examination, thus making it more effective. While patients feel better, symptoms such as tenderness and defense were generally not affected by analgesia.This descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the attitude and knowledge of nurses working in a university hospital about opioid analgesic administration, after the ethical committee approved.