Nursing Practice Situation: Recognizing drug seeking behaviors in the emergency department (ED). Since The Joint Commission aggregated pain as the fifth vital sign, it has been the motivation of many ED’s to provide swift and sufficient pain management in a timely fashion (Pentin, 2013). Pain is among the leading reasons for ED visits (Thomas, 2013).
Data: Information was collected on patients complaining of or exhibiting the following drug-seeking behavior (DSB): headache, back pain, dental pain, demanding specific medication, requesting a refill on narcotic medication, reporting medications or prescriptions as being lost or stolen or having run out, reporting 10/10 pain or greater, report of breakthrough pain with requests for additional doses, and requesting medication parenterally (Grover, Elder, Close, & Curry, 2012; Weiner et al., 2013). In addition, DSB was further defined to include patients that had received four or more opioid prescriptions by at least four providers within the last year prior to presenting to an ED (Weiner et al., 2013).
Information: Independently, the data collected simply represents a thorough pain assessment. However, a well-documented comprehensive record in the electronic medical record (EMR) improves communication between health care professionals and allows for proper interpretation of a patients clinical presentation. However difficult, nurses must not only feel permitted but obligated to use descriptors such as “addiction,” “substance abuse,” “dependence” and “doctor shopping” on EMR problem lists (Pentin, 2013).
Knowledge: Now that we are aware that such a problem exists, we have the ability to corroborate such behaviors and act accordingly. Prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) provides us access to a patient’s history of prescription medications and their respective providers (Pentin, 2013). With confirmation from