One Hospital's Initiatives to Encourage Safe Opioid Use

Jennifer K Surprise1, Melanie H Simpson

  • 1The University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kansas (Ms Surprise and Dr Simpson); and The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas (Dr Simpson). Jennifer K. Surprise, MSN, RN-BC, APRN, ACNS-BC, is a clinical nurse specialist for the pain management resource team at The University of Kansas Hospital. In 2012, she was the cochair of a task force to address The Joint Commission's Sentinel Event Alert for the use of opioids in the hospitalized patient. Melanie H. Simpson, PhD, RN-BC, OCN®, CHPN, is the pain resource team coordinator at The University of Kansas Hospital. Dr. Simpson is the chair of the Coalition for Comprehensive Pain Management, a multidisciplinary group that oversees pain management issues and policies at The University of Kansas Medical Center.

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