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The Pain Nurse Practitioner and Pain Nurse's Role and Views on Opioid Management in Australia: A National
Olivia Sonneborn1, Charne Miller2
1Faculty of Nursing, Latrobe University, The Alfred Centre, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Perioperative Medicine, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Background:
The demand for access to Australian pain management services is growing. The dual crisis of opioid misuse and chronic pain, means pain nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs) have a unique opportunity to meet clinical demands and advance their scope of practice.
Aims:
To understand the role of pain nurses and pain NPs across Australia and explore their perceptions of current opioid management.
Design:
This cross-sectional study involved pain nurses or pain NPs working in Australia who are a members of a pain interest group, which are subgroups of The Australian Pain Society.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study involved pain nurses or pain NPs working in Australia who are a members of a pain interest group, which are subgroups of The Australian Pain Society. Survey respondents were contacted via the eight nursing Pain Interest Groups in Australia.
Results:
Acute pain management (92.7%) and chronic pain management (80.5%) were the primary services provided, with pain specialty nurses providing nurse education (100.0%), patient support, clinician education, and policy development. Pain nurses believed there was an over prescription of opioid analgesics in Australia (97.6%), with NPs able to reduce opioid medication doses as part of opioid harm mitigation.
Conclusions:
Pain nurses have a breadth of knowledge and experience highlight they can contribute to opioid management in the future, with the support of policy and organizations.
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