| Description |
The rates of opioid misuse, abuse, and death are rising and afflicting our communities, leading to a nationwide epidemic. Utah is currently ranked fourth in the nation and Carbon County is ranked first in Utah for opioid-related deaths (Utah Department of Health, 2016). As a result, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed detailed opioid guidelines to address barriers experienced by clinicians when attempting to safely prescribe opioids to their patients. However, it is unknown how much knowledge providers have regarding these guidelines. The purpose of this project is to survey primary care providers (PCPs) concerning barriers to providing evidence-based opioid-managed therapy, and to provide education related to the 2016 CDC opioid guidelines. This projects' five objectives were to (1) collaborate with a local health department on an opioid initiative and join the local opioid coalition; (2) identify barriers perceived by PCPs when attempting to safely prescribe opioids; (3) create an educational presentation detailing CDC opioid guidelines and evidence-based opioid prescribing barriers based on the pre-education survey; (4) improve awareness, knowledge, and confidence in PCPs' ability to safely prescribe opioids by delivering a face-to-face education session; and (5) disseminate project findings by submitting a project abstract for presentation at a professional meeting. PCPs do not feel well-equipped to address the needs of chronic pain patients and to manage their opioid therapy. They feel stress when managing patients on opioid therapy, which can, in part, be explained by insufficient training related to opioid management and widespread concerns about addiction. Providing educational sessions to PCPs has been shown to be an effective means of changing their prescribing practices. To accomplish the projects' objectives, ongoing feedback was provided through collaboration and networking with the local opioid coalition. A pre-education survey administered to 12 PCPs, revealed their opinions related to barriers to evidence-based opioid prescribing. Identified barriers included lack of time with patients, insufficient pain management training, lack of resources, personal feelings regarding opioids, past experiences with patients and deception, lack of trust in patient compliance with plan, and refusal to prescribe opioids from previous patient interactions. An educational presentation describing provider prescribing barriers and the CDC opioid guidelines was given at the Price nurse practitioner and physician assistant chapter meeting. Twelve participating PCPs completed a post-education survey, which demonstrated improvement in their perceived evidence-based opioid prescribing awareness, knowledge, and confidence. Findings of this project will be disseminated during a poster presentation to the University of Utah faculty and at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium in July 20-23, 2017. Andrea Wa |
