Prescription Drug Abuse: a Growing Epidemic in the United States

Prescription do drugs evil A Growing epidemic in the unify States Prescription medicate offense and relate overdoses argon a major public wellness do that continues to stupefy each year. The field Institute on dose Ab practice explains ethical medicate medicate wickedness as the intentional use of a medicament without a prescription. (U. S. health and tender Services, 2011) Since prescription drugs atomic number 18 legal and readily prescribed to alleviate trouble oneself and suffering, it poses a big challenge to control them. some passel, oddly younger adults, feel that they atomic number 18 safer than illicit drugs because they potty be found in their family medicinal drug cabinet.Over the years, the number of sight ab apply these drugs has increased signifi keeptly. According to the boil down of Disease Control (CDC), in 2007 there were close to 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths in the unite States. ( tickers for Disease Control and pre vention, 2012) The use of prescription drugs continues to be the number one cause of these overdoses, much(prenominal) than heroin and cocaine combined. As collapse of the CDCs airfield, they inform that over a ten-year period, mingled with 1997 and 2007, the number of milligrams of prescription opioids prescribed per a person increased from 74 milligrams to 369 milligrams.In 2000, p psychic traumaacies dispensed 174-million opioid prescriptions and in 2009, it increased to 257 million prescriptions. These are both major contributors to prescription drug scream and overdoses due to the fact that prescription drugs are so easily available. As a result of this study, the CDC has classified prescription drug abuse as an epidemic. (executive fleck of the chairman of the United States, 2011) Prescription drug abuse spans across a wide range of universes. The preponderance of prescription drug abuse is higher among men, item-by-items between the terms of 18-64, non-Hispanic w hites, gain members, and poor, countrified populations.The highest graze of prescription drug abuse is by young adults between the ages of 18-25. (U. S. Health and human beings Services, 2011)) Of the individuals who describe non-medical prescription drug abuse, 70 part reported getting the prescription drugs from a friend or relative, 18 part reported getting it from one doctor, and less than 5 percent reported buying it from a drug head or stranger. (Executive might of the President of the United States, 2011) jr. adults are at higher risk for overdose because they beat a higher tendency to cock prescription drugs with intoxi bathroomt or some other illicit drugs. Multiple studies have revealed associations between prescription drug abuse and higher rates of cigarette smoking, menacing episodic drinking, and marijuana, cocaine, and other illicit drug use among adolescents, young adults, and college students in the United States. (U. S. Health and Human Services, 201 1) This results in numerous emergency room visits for this ill-tempered population. Between 2004 and 2009, the number of emergency room visits link up to non-medical use of prescription drugs nearly doubled. Executive persona of the President of the United States, 2011) Young adults are non the only population of prescription drug abusers that has move to increase over the years. In 2008, the Department of demurrer reported that one in nine active-duty service members reported prescription drug abuse. (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2011) A study done by the Office of National dose Control indemnity found that approximately both million adults age 50 and older used prescription-type drugs non-medically in the former(prenominal) year. (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2011) As you can see, the prescription drug abuse problem is not limited to a specific population. It effects people throughout their lifetime. Newspaper Article A modern denomination in the Boston Globe called antidote offers addicts families dissever of comfort Nasal spray ascribe with reversing more than 1,800 drug overdoses, talked some the diffusion of naloxone in the community as a panache to prevent an overdose. naloxone is an opiate antidote that can be given to someone who you suspect has overdosed.It can be administered intranasally or by injection. Massachusetts is one of the someer states that have implemented a Naloxone distribution plan. Beginning in 2006, Massachusettss health officials have been distributing Naloxone to individuals who are most probably to witness an overdose such as outreach workers, homeless person shelter employees, active drug users and family members. (Canaboy, 2013) The article goes on to talk near the effect the Naloxone political platforms have had in Massachusetts. In 2010, overdoses were responsible for 738 deaths in Massachusetts, which was doubly the number of motor-vehicle deaths. Canaboy, 2013) Studies have showed that the Naloxone programs have had a positive effect in the communities where it is distributed. There were in like manner positive results found in a study done in California by two agencies that implemented Overdose Prevention Programs using Naloxone. The rate of overdose deaths was reduced between 27 percent and 46 percent in the communities where Naloxone was distributed in 2009. (Canaboy, 2013) As shown by this article, drug overdoses continue to be a major public health anesthetize in communities throughout Massachusetts.With the help of programs like the Naloxone discussed in this article, there is hope that health officials and communities can work together to fight against it using harm reduction programs in conjunction with other discourse programs. muscular batch 2020 One of the topics for Healthy tidy sum 2020 is shopping center abuse. The goal of this topic is to reduce means abuse to protect the health, safety, and quality of life for all, especially children. (Healthy hatful 2020, 2012) Healthy People 2020 reported that 22 million Americans had drug or alcohol problems in 2005 and 95 percent of them were not even sensitive of their problem. Healthy People 2020, 2012) They also reported that 273,000 people who recognized they had a problem with drugs or alcohol were unsuccessful in obtaining discourse. Its reasons like this that Healthy People 2020 felt that substance abuse was an meaning(a) topic to focus on for the future. Under the substance abuse topic in Healthy People 2020 there are two specific objectives instantaneously cerebrate to prescription drug use. They state the undermentioned objective SA-12 reduce drug-induced deaths and SA-19 reduce the past-year nonmedical use of prescription drugs. (Healthy People 2020, 2012) Both these objectives are directly related to the issues discussed in the Boston Globe article and other initiatives that the Federal Government has outlined as part of their plan. breast feeding Diagnosis One of the NANDA diagnoses that relates to prescription drug abuse and overdoses is Ineffective Community Self-Health Management. Carpenito-Moyet describes this diagnosis as a pattern in which the community experiences or is at high risk to experience fuss integrating a program for prevention/ discussion of illness and the sequelae of illness and reduction of risk situations. (p. 28) This can be related to the Naloxone program discussed in the Boston Globe article and other treatment services in general. The article talks nigh how there are only a few states that have been willing to implement the Naloxone program. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a report on Prescription Drug Overdoses a U. S. Epidemic which talked about the National agenda to combat prescription drug abuse. In the report, it talked about how the public health onslaught need to include both secondary and ordinal prevention programs such as the Naloxone progra m discussed in the Boston Globe article. Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2011) There are on-line(prenominal) programs out there but individuals are not successful in accessing them for one reason or another. The CDCs report discussed the need to remove barriers to shake up treatment programs more accessible in the communities. The report stated, Office-based care can be less stigmatizing and more accessible to all patients, especially those residing in rural areas. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012) Another NANDA diagnosis that is related to prescription drug abuse and overdose is wanting(p) knowledge.This is defined by Carpenito-Moyet as, the state in which an individual or group experiences a deficiency in cognitive knowledge or psychomotor skills concerning the precondition or treatment plan. (p. 269) This is directly related to the prescription drug abuse and overdose problem in a number of ways. It applies to the individuals who are actively using drugs, the prescribers who are prescribing the drugs to individuals, and the community in general. The Office of National Drug Control Policy developed a plan to combat the prescription drug problem.In their report, Epidemic Responding to Americas Prescription Drug squall Crisis, they developed four major areas of focus, the first base organism education. The report stated that A crucial first step in tackling the problem of prescription drug abuse is to education parents, youth, and patients about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs darn requiring prescribers to receive training in the safe and enamor use of these drugs. (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2011)Educating individuals about the dangers of prescription drugs is just as important or even more important than illicit drugs. People feel that prescription drugs arent as bighearted because a doctor prescribes them. Education is also needful for family members and community me mbers to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of drug abuse or an overdose. The Boston Globe article talks about how part of the Naloxone program is to educate whomever it is getting the Naloxone how to recognize an overdose. Its important for them to know what signs to look for. ConclusionAs evidence by the Boston Globe article and multiple reports personate out by the federal government and polar state agencies, prescription drug abuse is a major public health issue that needs to be addressed. It needs to be addressed at all levels, starting with the federal governments drug policies and working down to the individuals who are abusing drugs. The population of individuals abusing prescription drugs varies for diametrical reasons. There needs to be more treatment and prevention programs available to the different populations that address the specific needs of each.There are real programs established, like the Naloxone, that are shown to work. We need to keep travel in th e right direction to implement and grow these types of programs in order to succeed in decrease the prescription drug abuse problem in the United States. Works Cited Canaboy, C. (2013, abut 2). Antidote offers addicts families sliver of comfort Nasal spray credited with reversing more than 1,800 drug overdoses. Boston Globe , p. A. 1. Carpenito-Moyet, L. (2008). Handbook of breast feeding Diagnosis (12th ed. ).Philadelphia, PA Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, January 13). CDC cat valium Rounds Prescription Drug Overdoses a U. S. Epidemic. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http//www. cdc. gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3. htm Executive Office of the President of the United States. (2011, April). Prescription Drug malignment The discolor House. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from The White House http//www. whitehouse. gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse Healthy People 2020. 2012, September 6). nu bble Abuse Healthy People. (U. S. Health and Human Services) Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Healthy People 2020 http//www. healthypeople. gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview. aspx? topicid=40 Lankenau, S. E. , Wagner, K. D. , Silva, K. , Kecojevic, A. , Iverson, E. , McNeely, M. , et al. (2012). shaft Drug Users Trained by Overdose Prevention Programs Responses to Witnessed Overdoses. Journal of Community Health , 38, 133-141. Stanhope, RN, DSN, FAAN, M. , & Lancaster, RN, Ph. D, FAAN, J. (2012).Public Health Nursing Population-Centered Health Care in the Community (8th ed. ). physician Heights, MS Elsevier, Inc. U. S. Health and Human Services. (2011, December). Prescription Drug Abuse. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from National Institute on Drug Abuse http//www. drugabuse. gov/publications/topics-in-brief/prescription-drug-abuse U. S. Health and Human Services. (2011, October). Prescription Drugs Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from National Institute of Health http //www. drugabuse. gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-drugs