A featured presentation on opioid safety will be made at the Surgical Conference & Expo hosted by Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). The conference is taking place March 8-10, 2015.
Speaking at the presentation will be:
- Kenneth Rothfield, MD, MBA (System Chief Medical Officer, St. Vincent’s Healthcare)
- Lynn Razzano, MSN, RN, ONCC (Clinical Nurse Consultant, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
- Amy Ketchum, MS, RN, OCNS-C
Ms. Razzano explained why this presentation on opioid safety is so important:
This is a critical clinical topic that is seen in everyday practice. Inadequate monitoring of these patients can occur for many reasons (e.g., alarms being turned down or shut off because of alarm fatigue, lack of awareness about the effects of opioid administration). My co-presenters and I will take attendees through a deep dive into opioid risks and safety by reviewing current statistics about the occurrence of opioid overdose and the need to incorporate continuous monitoring for all patients who are prescribed opioids postoperatively for pain control. In addition, we will explore the audience’s current practice of assessing patients before and after administering opioids and discuss how to perform safe continuous electronic monitoring with patient-specific parameters for the duration opioids are used.