Safe and Effective Opioid Prescribing Practices for Chronic Pain Patients

Abstract

Background: Opioid addiction is a national crisis. A key factor of this crisis is the increasednumber of opioid prescriptions for chronic pain patients. The increased availability of opioid drugs has led to widespread misuse affecting millions of lives across the country. The devastating effects of prolonged opioid use have threatened public safety and have led to the need for a nationwide intervention. Despite the many factors contributing to the opioid crisis, new policies are needed to address educational gaps for chronic pain management, opioid prescribing practices, and opioid addiction. Purpose: This project aimed to determine if providing a brief educational session on evidence- based opioid prescribing practices for chronic pain patients will increase confidence in providers at an outpatient military clinic in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Methods: This project used a quasi-experimental design with one group of participants. The KnowPain-12 survey questionnaire integrated with a 7-point Likert scale was used to anonymously measure each provider’s knowledge, attitude, and approach to managing chronic pain. All participants completed the KnowPain-12 survey questionnaire pre-intervention and post-intervention to measure knowledge gained. Results: There was an increase in total points for each participant after receiving the intervention. The most significant increase in points was noted with an eleven-point difference from pretest to posttest. Most of the responses favored the most appropriate choice, “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” for questions 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and “Strongly Disagree” or “Disagree” for questions 1, 5, 10, and 11. Conclusion: This quality improvement (QI) project endeavored to provide an educational intervention to help providers appropriately prescribe opioids and manage chronic pain patients. There were positive results from the responses from the pre-intervention scores to the post- intervention scores. In addition, this QI project indicated that providing a well-rounded educational brief of evidence-based practices increased providers’ confidence of safe opioid prescribing to chronic pain patients.