title: One Hospital's Initiatives to Encourage Safe Opioid Use.
abstract: Pain is the leading reason people seek health care. In an effort to aggressively manage pain in the hospitalized patient, we have seen an increase in the use of opioids. Unfortunately, there has been a similar increase in the number of opioid-related adverse events. As a result, The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert in August 2012 with suggested evidenced-based actions to help avoid these adverse events. This article describes one hospital's initiatives to provide opioids safely.
authors.affiliation: The 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.
authors.forename: Jennifer K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Surprise
authors.forename: Melanie H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D007615:Kansas; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid