A Qualitative Exploration of Perinatal Opioid Users' Pain-Related Experiences.

BACKGROUND: Many pregnant and postpartum individuals who misuse prescription opioids report either physical or psychological pain. The pain-related factors underlying perinatal opioid misuse are poorly understood. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the pain-related experiences of individuals with histories of perinatal prescription opioid misuse. DESIGN: This study used a qualitative descriptive design. METHODS: Between October 2021 and July 2022, a convenience sample of 12 childbearing-aged females with histories of perinatal opioid misuse were recruited and individually interviewed about their pain-related experiences. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and manually coded using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Twelve participants consented to participate and provided 14 interviews. Three major themes emerged to highlight participant's experiences with pain and misuse of prescription opioids: 1) pain sources, 2) impact of pain, and 3) pain management. CONCLUSIONS: Participants indicated in their interviews their childhood and adult trauma experiences created risk of initiating misuse prior to pregnancy and continued prescription opioid misuse perinatally. Both psychological and physical pain experiences were stated by participants as frequently undertreated. Participants perceived undertreatment of both types of pain influenced decisions to self-manage with prescription opioid and illegal substances of abuse. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The participants' shared experiences provide insights for targeted pain-related nursing interventions that could help reduce the initiation and perpetuation of misuse and assist the journey to recovery.

Development and Testing of the Relational and Structural Components of Innovativeness Across Academia and Practice for Healthcare Progress Scale.

OBJECTIVE: Using data from 5 academic-practice sites across the United States, researchers developed and validated a scale to measure conditions that enable healthcare innovations. BACKGROUND: Academic-practice partnerships are a catalyst for innovation and healthcare development. However, limited theoretically grounded evidence exists to provide strategic direction for healthcare innovation across practice and academia. METHODS: Phase 1 of the analytical strategy involved scale development using 16 subject matter experts. Phase 2 involved pilot testing the scale. RESULTS: The final Innovativeness Across Academia and Practice for Healthcare Progress Scale (IA-APHPS) consisted of 7 domains: 3 relational domains, 2 structural domains, and 2 impact domains. The confirmatory factor analysis model fits well with a comparative fit index of 0.92 and a root-mean-square error of approximation of 0.06 (n = 477). CONCLUSION: As the 1st validated scale of healthcare innovation, the IA-APHPS allows nurses to use a diagnostic tool to facilitate innovative processes and outputs across academic-practice partnerships.

Ethical considerations for nurse practitioners conducting research in populations with opioid use disorder.

ABSTRACT: People with opioid use disorder (OUD) are a vulnerable population who face unique risks of harm when participating in research. Despite a long-standing dialogue, written research codes of ethics, and institutional review board oversight for the conduct of ethical research in vulnerable populations, protections for study populations with OUD is rarely mentioned. Nurse practitioners who conduct research using participants with OUD, especially when recruiting their own patients (i.e., dual role), must be aware of the unique ethical considerations necessary to protect their patients and participants from increased risks. This article explores vulnerabilities and influences that can affect participant recruitment and consent, imbalances in the distribution of risk and benefits to participants participating in research, and the concerns of coercions, undue influence, and unjustifiable pressure contributing to vulnerabilities. Strategies to reduce the risks of influences that are of concern in the vulnerable population of research participants with opioid disorder are suggested. The goal of this article was to raise awareness of the unique potential risks of harm when using people with OUD as research participants and to explore strategies to minimize potential risks of various levels of influence in this vulnerable population.

Evaluating De-Escalation Training for Direct and Indirect Employees Caring for Residents With Huntington's Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about reducing the challenges for caregivers and patients with Huntington's disease (HD). HD creates behavioral disturbances, cognitive decline, and motor disorder progression over the lifetime requiring some individuals to need long-term facility care. AIMS: There are concerns about safety and confidence of employees caring for residents with HD. METHODS: Nursing staff, administrators, and auxiliary employees were recruited from a long-term care (LTC) facility in rural Iowa, from July 2020 to August 2020. A de-escalation training intervention was delivered. The 1-day intervention included resident behaviors, planning and safety, teamwork, communication, and included role play and simulation. A pre- and post-survey measured confidence and competence in caring for people with HD before and after a training intervention. A resident medical record audit explored challenging behaviors before and after the training intervention. RESULTS: Of 25 participants, six were registered nurses/licensed practical nurses (RNs/LPNs; 24%), four administrators (16%), eight nursing assistants (32%), and seven auxiliary employees (28%). There was improvement in employees perceived safety (33.3%), co-workers enjoyment working with HD residents (54%), understanding symptoms of HD (44.4%), confidence in job abilities (21.0%), and confidence in ability to care for patients with HD (26.3%). A medical record audit showed decreased documentation of resident aggression and care refusal post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest de-escalation training in LTC facilities increased perception of job safety, co-workers' enjoyment, understanding HD symptoms, confidence in ability to care for patients with HD, and decreased resident agitation and care refusal.

Health disparities in ethnic and racial minority populations with pain and opioid use disorder.

Healthcare providers are not prepared to address health disparities among ethnic and racial minority populations with either persistent and chronic pain or substance use disorder (SUD). Recognizing biases from policies to provide pain management and treatment for SUD in our healthcare systems, from our individual state laws and federal guidelines, is necessary. Biases are embedded in the screening and treatment of patients with chronic pain through the use of screening tools, opioid treatment agreements, and prescription drug monitoring programs. Additionally, the punitive treatment of people of ethnic and racial minority populations who experience persistent and chronic pain, opioid use disorders, or other SUDs needs to be redirected to facilitate solutions rooted in equity.

Experiences of Pain Management Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: The knowledge and skills of pain management nurses positions them well to manage people's pain and provide critical services to patients with COVID-19. AIM: To understand the personal and professional experiences and the support pain management nurses received during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Between July 2020 and 2021, data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews from members of the American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Content analysis was used. RESULTS: Eighteen pain management nurses who worked during the early stages of the pandemic were interviewed. Three main categories were identified: experiencing stress and burden, pain management strategies changed, learning to cope with support. Pain management nurses reported fear of exposure, difficulties with staff shortages, the complex social milieu, and how pain management took a backseat to other symptoms of COVID-19. They coped through support from their colleagues, organizational leaders, and community members. Pain management nurses provided recommendations for future care of patients' pain during a pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Pain management nurses shared their professional and personal experiences and the support they received while managing patients' pain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experiences provided findings on the importance of pain management and to support nurses during personal and professional vulnerabilities during crises. Key recommendations on the care of patients' pain in future pandemics included developing expertise in pain management and health-related emergencies; engaging nurses in supportive mental health services, infectious disease testing, and vaccine efforts; and planning for surge capacity to reach out to underserved people living with pain.

Original Research: The Impact of COVID-19 on Pain Care Among Older Adults.

PURPOSE: In this qualitative descriptive study, we sought to understand the professional experiences and perceptions of pain management nurses who cared for older adults in the United States during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Data were collected between July 2020 and July 2021 through individual, semistructured interviews with a nonprobability sample of 18 pain management nurses. An inductive content analysis approach, in which categories were derived from a coding process based on a close reading of data extracts from the interview transcripts, was used to reveal the major theme related to the study aim. RESULTS: Notwithstanding the variable consequences of COVID-19 on patients' health, a single overarching theme was pronounced: "Pain management for older adults remained unchanged during the pandemic despite unpredictable survival, restrictions on human interactions, and communication challenges." This theme was supported by four categories that emerged from the data: unpredictable survival, restriction-induced isolation, perceived continuity and equality of pain management, and communication challenges. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, pain management nurses stepped in and joined interdisciplinary teams providing general and specialized pain care to ensure that older adults, whether inpatient or outpatient, continued to receive quality care. These study findings highlight the many challenges pain management nurses faced during this unprecedented public health crisis, as well as opportunities to improve the health system and enhance nursing practice to meet the needs of older patients.

Pain Management and Substance Use Disorders: A Position Statement.

ABSTRACT: The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions hold the position that persons with co-occurring pain and substance use disorder have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and receive evidence-based, high-quality assessment and management for both conditions using an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach. Nonopioid and nonpharmacological approaches to pain management are recommended. Opioids should not be withheld from anyone if necessary to treat pain, and a team-based approach, including pain and addiction specialists, should be utilized when possible. Pain management should include interventions aimed at minimizing the risk for relapse or escalation of problematic substance use and actively involve the person and their support persons in the plan of care. Institutions should establish policies and procedures that support this position statement.

Testing the Decision Support Tool for Responsible Pain Management for Headache and Facial Pain Diagnosis with Opioid-Risk-Stratified Treatment.

In primary and urgent care, headache and facial pain are common and challenging to diagnose and manage, especially with using opioids appropriately. We therefore developed the Decision Support Tool for Responsible Pain Management (DS-RPM) to assist healthcare providers in diagnosis (including multiple simultaneous diagnoses), workup (including triage), and opioid-risk-informed treatment. A primary goal was to supply sufficient explanations of DS-RPM's functions allowing critique. We describe the process of iteratively designing DS-RPM adding clinical content and testing/defect discovery. We tested DS-RPM remotely with 21 clinician-participants using three vignettes-cluster headache, migraine, and temporal arteritis-after first training to use DS-RPM with a trigeminal-neuralgia vignette. Their evaluation was both quantitative (usability/acceptability) and qualitative using semi-structured interviews. The quantitative evaluation used 12 Likert-type questions on a 1-5 scale, where 5 represented the highest rating. The mean ratings ranged from 4.48 to 4.95 (SDs ranging 0.22-1.03). Participants initially found structured data entry intimidating but adapted and appreciated its comprehensiveness and speed of data capture. They perceived DS-RPM as useful for teaching and clinical practice, making several enhancement suggestions. The DS-RPM was designed, created, and tested to facilitate best practice in management of patients with headaches and facial pain. Testing the DS-RPM with vignettes showed strong functionality and high usability/acceptability ratings from healthcare providers. Risk stratifying for opioid use disorder to develop a treatment plan for headache and facial pain is possible using vignettes. During testing, we considered the need to adapt usability/acceptability evaluation tools for clinical decision support, and future directions.

Barriers to Increasing Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Use: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.

Prescription drug monitoring programs are implemented through individual state policies and are one solution to curb the opioid crisis. The objectives of this study are to: (1) describe the multidisciplinary experiences using this program in practice; (2) identify limitations of the program and the desired features for improvement; and (3) characterize expectations for improved access when prescription drug monitoring programs are embedded in the electronic health record. A qualitative descriptive study design used semistructured interviews of 15 multidisciplinary healthcare providers. Textual data were analyzed using content analysis. Results showed the prescription drug monitoring program was helpful to decision-making processes related to opioid prescribing and referral to treatment; there were barriers limiting healthcare providers' use of the prescription drug monitoring program; preferences were delineated for integrating prescription drug monitoring program into electronic health record; and recommendations were provided to improve the program and increase use. In conclusion, the prescription drug monitoring program was viewed as useful in making strides to reduce the impact of inappropriate opioid prescribing in our country. By engaging a multidisciplinary group of healthcare providers, solutions were offered to improve the interface and function of the prescription drug monitoring program to assist in increasing use.

Pain Management and Substance Use Disorders.

The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions hold the position that persons with co-occurring pain and substance use disorder have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and receive evidence-based, high-quality assessment and management for both conditions using an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach. Non-opioid and nonpharmacological approaches to pain management are recommended. Opioids should not be withheld from anyone if necessary to treat pain, and a team-based approach, including pain and addiction specialists, should be utilized when possible. Pain management should include interventions aimed at minimizing the risk for relapse or escalation of problematic substance use, and actively involve the person and their support persons in the plan of care. Institutions should establish policies and procedures that support this position statement.

Pain Management and Risks Associated With Substance Use: Practice Recommendations.

Assessing and managing pain while evaluating risks associated with substance use and substance use disorders continues to be a challenge faced by health care clinicians. The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and the International Nurses Society on Addictions uphold the principle that all persons with co-occurring pain and substance use or substance use disorders have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and receive evidence-based, high quality assessment, and management for both conditions. The American Society for Pain Management Nursing and International Nurses Society on Addictions have updated their 2012 position statement on this topic supporting an integrated, holistic, multidimensional approach, which includes nonopioid and nonpharmacological modalities. Opioid use disorder is used as an exemplar for substance use disorders and clinical recommendations are included with expanded attention to risk assessment and mitigation with interventions targeted to minimize the risk for relapse or escalation of substance use. Opioids should not be excluded for anyone when indicated for pain management. A team-based approach is critical, promotes the active involvement of the person with pain and their support systems, and includes pain and addiction specialists whenever possible. Health care systems should establish policies and procedures that facilitate and support the principles and recommendations put forth in this article.

Item Response Theory Analysis: PROMIS® Anxiety Form and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale.

Little research has compared item functioning of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) anxiety short form 6a and the generalized anxiety disorder 7-item scale using item response theory models. This was a secondary analysis of self-reported assessments from 67 at-risk U.S. military veterans. The two measures performed comparably well with data fitting adequately to models, acceptable item discriminations, and item and test information curves being unimodal and symmetric. The PROMIS® anxiety short form 6a performed better in that item difficulty estimates had a wider range and distributed more evenly and all response categories had less floor effect, while the third category in most items of the generalized anxiety disorder 7-item scale were rarely used. While both measures may be appropriate, findings provided preliminary information supporting use of the PROMIS® anxiety short form 6a as potentially preferable, especially for veterans with low-to-moderate anxiety. Further testing is needed in larger, more diverse samples.

Developing and Establishing Content Validity of Vignettes for Health Care Education and Research.

The use of vignettes in research and education is well documented. Documentation of how vignettes are developed and content validity is established, however, are rare. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method for development and establishing content validity of vignettes that can be used to assess student performance and research participant outcomes. This three-phase method was designed to validate seven vignettes for a future research project. Content validity index survey and expert panel interviews were used to inform improvements in validity. Findings showed that clinical vignettes were improved with respect to content relevance (from 0.93 to 0.96) and importance (from 0.68 to 0.93). Developing validated vignettes is essential when used to measure outcomes in education and in research. This three-phase method of vignette development and validation is feasible and effective in improving content validity of vignettes and can be used in other education and research projects.

Use and Misuse of Opioid Pain Medications by Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women.

BACKGROUND: The use and misuse of opioid pain medication is a public health problem that has extended to pregnant women. Assessing both the use and misuse of opioid pain medication had been limited. AIMS: The aim of the present study was to disseminate data from a national sample of pregnant and nonpregnant women, tracking the rate and predictors of opioid use and misuse. METHODS: In 2015 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health expanded the assessment of opioid pain reliever use and misuse. Here, a secondary analysis of 2 years of National Survey on Drug Use and Health expanded data assesses the use and misuse of opioids in pregnant and nonpregnant women ranging in age from 18 to 44 years (N = 46,229). RESULTS: Opioid medication use was reported by 31.89% of pregnant women and 38.87% of nonpregnant women. Race and pregnancy status were associated with risk, with pregnancy being protective and White women having significantly higher risk. CONCLUSIONS: The high rates of use and misuse of opioids in pregnant women underscores a critical need for screening for opioid use and misuse, particularly among White women. Pregnancy provides a unique window of opportunity to educate, screen, and provide treatment.

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Instruments: Reliability and Validity in Veterans Following Orthopedic Surgery.

The patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) offers standardized assessment measures of clinically relevant patient-reported outcomes. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of select PROMIS measures with U.S. military veterans following orthopedic surgery. Data for the current study were collected as part of a pilot randomized control trial assessing the efficacy of a 1-day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy workshop on persistent postsurgical pain in at-risk veterans undergoing orthopedic surgery. Sixty-seven participants completed surveys 3 months after surgery. Participants completed the following PROMIS instruments: PROMIS Anxiety Short Form 8a, PROMIS Depression Short Form 8b, and PROMIS Pain Interference Short Form 8a. PROMIS measures were compared to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item Scale, and the Brief Pain Inventory Pain Interference subscale, respectively. All three PROMIS measures demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's αs ranged from .93 to .96) and each loaded onto a single factor. The PROMIS measures were moderately correlated with their respective comparison measures (r = .69 to .76). The PROMIS anxiety and PROMIS depression measures were highly correlated to one another (r = .91). Findings highlight the potential utility of these PROMIS measures in veterans following orthopedic surgery and the overlap between the PROMIS depression and anxiety measures in this sample.

Factors Influencing Judgments to Consult Prescription Monitoring Programs: A Factorial Survey Experiment.

BACKGROUND: Prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) can provide health care professionals with valuable information. However, few studies have explored providers' decision making for accessing PMPs. AIMS: This study aimed to identify provider characteristics and situational factors most influencing perceived importance of consulting the PMP for patients in a simulated context. DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional factorial survey. SETTINGS: The survey was administered electronically. PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: Community pharmacists, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), and physicians in Iowa. METHODS: Participants were recruited by mail which included a link to the online survey. The survey consisted of demographic questions, eight randomly generated vignettes, and one ranked item. The vignettes described a hypothetical prescription using eight experimental variables whose levels were randomly varied. Respondents evaluated each vignette for importance to access the PMP. Analyses used linear mixed-effects models in R (Version 3.5.0). RESULTS: A total of 138 responses were available for multilevel analysis. Women, physicians, and APRNs rated it more important to consult the PMP for a given prescription compared with men and pharmacists. Accessing a PMP was perceived as more important with cash payments, quantity dispensed, suspicion for misuse, hydromorphone and oxycodone prescriptions, and headache. Advancing age, postoperative pain, and anxiety or sleep indications were associated with less importance. CONCLUSIONS: Age, indication for prescribing, misuse, and payment mode each independently had greater importance to providers in accessing the PMP. This was the first study to isolate the influence of different controlled substances on how important it was to consult the PMP.

Managing Pain in the Setting of Opioid Use Disorder.

SPECIFIC CLINICAL ISSUE: Healthcare providers are challenged with managing pain and minimizing morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use disorder. MAJOR PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON BEST EVIDENCE: The purpose of this article is to guide acute and ambulatory care clinicians in managing pain in patients with opioid use disorder. Included in this article is a review of medications used for opioid use disorder, a discussion of the management of patients with active opioid use disorder and acute or chronic pain, and a discussion of the management of acute and chronic pain in people in recovery both on and off medications for opioid use disorder.

Cannabinoids in Pain Treatment: An Overview.

The current landscape contains conflicting reports regarding the use of medical marijuana, creating fields of misinformation and lack of understanding by health care providers about cannabinoids. In this article we provide a dispassionate look at medical marijuana, while providing a clinical overview focusing on pain management. We examine the mechanisms of the endocannabinoid system, along with the pharmacology of cannabinoids. Current research on the use of marijuana for the treatment of pain is reviewed. Finally, recommendations for pain management nurses on integrating research, clinical practice, and U.S. drug policy are made.