Introduction
Opioid use disorder is a healthcare concern that occurs when the continuous use of opioids causes mental impairment and jeopardizes the quality of life. The article explains the OUD and shares strategies that nurse practitioners may use to handle the challenge and improve the quality of life among patients. The American Society of Addiction Medicine categorized OUD as one of the conditions threatening the health and stability of the people. According to epidemiology, the number of life-threatening challenges caused by OUD has been increasing exponentially since the 1990s, and a robust strategy to overcome the challenge is needed. Since nurse practitioners deal with OUD patients, they need to undergo massive training to enhance service delivery and improve the quality of care to improve their quality of life.
Essential Training for Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioner education to be provided includes the decision-making process and administering clinical and non-clinical medications. Further, the article forbids all nursing practitioners from administering pharmacological therapy before a complete diagnosis. Diagnosis must be made through the universal criteria as offered by the DSM-5, where a patient must exhibit at least two of the eleven conditions presented in the table. The provided epidemiology shows the context and the urgent need for expert interventions.
It is imperative to note that OUD is considered one of the health threats in the USA. All nurse practitioners who deal with OUD patients must undergo three critical pieces of training: cooperation and decision-making models before prescription, as well as clinical and non-clinical interventions (Denis, 2019). Practitioners dealing with OUD patients require practical and evidence-based training to ensure that they understand all the challenges facing people and enable them to recover quickly.
Decision-Making Models in Healthcare
The decision-making model in the healthcare setting determines patient outcomes. For example, dealing with OUD patients with different complications requires collective teamwork to ensure that there are no side effects. A nursing practitioner must, therefore, understand the decision-making process by involving all the relevant medical staff. The clinical treatment of the condition is given in three critical medications.
Buprenorphine is the starting dosage to enhance stability (Denis, 2019). Methadone is an effective dosage that blocks receptors and must only be administered after informed consent. Naltrexone is another essential medication that is mainly preferred for pregnant women because it promotes perception. Nursing practitioners must genuinely understand the drug’s action and its side effects to ensure that they are administering the medication at the correct dosage. The third intervention is the non-medicinal, which includes behavioral and cognitive therapies that help the patient experience effective treatment.
Audience for the Article
The article was written for all the nursing practitioners who deal with people suffering from OUD. Although the paper is based in the USA, it addresses universal concerns and may be used by all other practitioners worldwide. The epidemiology is set in the USA and states how the challenge has been increasing since the 1990s to the extent of attracting global concerns (Denis, 2019).
Opioid use disorder, therefore, requires a universal approach to ensure that people’s prevalence is contained. The article is also written for family and other medical practitioners dealing with OUD patients because it explains the types of medications that should be given and those that require patient consent before being administered. The nurse practitioner’s role worldwide is to deal with OUD patients and understand all the requirements and medication for effective intervention.
Importance of Support Systems
Further, all people in nursing homes and facilities dealing with these kinds of patients are potential audiences for the article since learning the best treatment procedures helps them deliver a better quality of life to patients. Generally, the article is fit for all people conducting medical research on opioid use disorder and the best way of overcoming the situation (Denis, 2019). Medical and research institutions investigating OUD are potential audiences expected to benefit from the article. Although the article was written in the USA, it was written for many people and professionals and can be used globally.
Enhancing Readability
The information in the article is easy to read and understand because it is organized logically, has the correct font and use of tables, and provides adequate background information. An article is easily understood when the information is organized in short, succinct paragraphs (Donthu et al., 2021). Further, sufficient background information at the beginning of the article sets the context for the information and makes it possible for the reader to have a general overview.
The logical organization offers specified headings, tables, and colors to make the reader follow through with the presented information. The tables, such as the medication and the DSM diagnosis criteria, make the information understandable. Visual aids are materials such as graphs, charts, and tables that display information clearly for the audience (Donthu et al., 2021). Presenting information in bulky paragraphs may need to be clarified to the reader. The article incorporated visual aids through tables summarizing the information, making it easier to follow and understand.
Creating Context
Creating context is the prerequisite for information to be easily understood. Readers with background information, such as epidemiology, will likely be more curious due to the created suspense (Donthu et al., 2021). The context started by elaborating on the meaning of OUD and its prevalence in the USA. The alarming rate at which OUD has been affecting people in the USA creates interest in the reader and enables one to be keen to understand the concept and learn the ways of overcoming the challenges.
The article presents information that is easy to understand because of its coherence levels. For example, each idea is presented in a different paragraph, and there is a connection between the ideas connecting the other ideas. The choice of language makes it easier for the general audience to understand as the use of technical terms has been minimized to make information be conveyed to both the medical and non-medical audiences.
Conclusion
Opioid use disorder is one of the major healthcare challenges in the USA because its prevalence has been on the rise since the 1990s. The article presents the statement of the problem and the possible measures to curb the challenges. Different medical practitioners are involved in dealing with OUD cases.
Nurse practitioners are, however, the people who are in contact with the patients most of the time and need to be trained on the best way of dealing with the challenge to enhance clinical outcomes and improve the quality of life among the people. The article underscores the need for clinical and non-clinical intervention training to ensure people are safe from the disorder. The article effectively passes the information to numerous audiences because of its logical arrangement, choice of words, and providing adequate background information to offer context.
References
Denis, A. M. (2019). Managing opioid use disorder: The nurse practitioner addressing the challenge. Medsurg Nursing, 28(5), 281–316.
Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, pp. 133, 285–296. Web.