What Nurse Practitioners Can Do in the Opioid Crisis

The impetus to address—and combat—the opioid epidemic that is plaguing our country has never been more urgent. Overdose rates have more than quadrupled since 1999, making opioid overdoses now the leading cause of death in Americans under 50. For every person who obtains opioids on the streets, there are many more who abuse prescription drugs that are prescribed to them.

Nurse practitioners (NPs), in primary care and in specialties, can help break this cycle. Nurse practitioners are on the frontline in patient care and have the skill and authority to intervene. As a provider, I have seen firsthand how pain medication can help patients regain control of their lives, when prescribed and taken correctly. I have also seen people become so dependent on these medications that they will do almost anything to get access to them. Part of my role at Columbia University School of Nursing is to oversee the school’s faculty practice, Columbia Doctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group, which offers combined primary care and mental health services in New York City.

At the practice, we handle opioid prescriptions with a three-prong approach: comprehensive history and assessment, opioid patient-prescriber agreements, and educating our faculty NPs to engage in Medication-Assisted Treatment, particularly the authority to now prescribe Buprenorphine, an opioid medication used to treat addiction.