Date of Award

Spring 4-12-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

Advisor

Brian Garrett

First Committee Member

Deanna Batross

Second Committee Member

Amy Bishop

Keywords

Anesthesia, Opioid tolerance, Opioid misuse

Subject Categories

Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Nursing | Perioperative, Operating Room and Surgical Nursing

Abstract

Opioids have highly addictive properties that allow for high levels of misuse. Since the early 1990s, the misuse and deaths rates related to narcotics have steadily risen in the United States. Efforts to identify individuals using opioids prior to surgery have proven difficult. The number of patients misusing opioids and reporting for surgery can only be estimated due to under-reporting related to fear and self-stigma. With 50 million surgeries in the U.S. annually and 3.32 million people misusing opioids monthly, the chances of a patient with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) presenting for anesthesia are exceptionally high. Moreover, patients who rate pain higher throughout their hospital stay are more likely to have longer stays and be readmitted for pain issues. Notably, the average readmission cost is $15,200 for the patient. Issues with anesthetizing patients who chronically misuse opioids include cardiac dysrhythmias, respiratory complications, death from acute intoxication, higher opioid requirements postoperatively, prolonged hospital stays and increased readmission rates. The project serves to evaluate current literature to provide direct guidelines for implementation for OUD. The providers will be given a set of guidelines for adaption into practice. The success of the project will be measured by the outcomes of amount of opioids used, the length of stay, and readmission rates.

Acknowledgement 1

1

Acknowledgement 2

1

Licensing Permission

Copyright, some rights reserved. Attribution – Noncommercial – No Derivative Works

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