Nurses are well-educated and positioned to help decrease the number of occurrences and potentially fatal outcomes of prescription opioid diversion (Manworren & Gilson, 2015). Nurses can educate patients who are prescribed painkillers the risks of opioid overdose and provide them with the proper information on how to dispose opioids that are no longer of use to them. Nurses should allow opportunities for feedback and evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategies used. They should also use information technologies to communicate health promotion and disease prevention information to the healthcare consumer in a variety of settings (ANA, 2010). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2008) states, in The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice, under Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health that it is essential for each and every nurse to promote health, and prevent injuries and diseases in order to improve public population health. “Clinical prevention refers to individually focused interventions such as immunizations, screenings, and counseling aimed at preventing escalation of diseases and conditions” (AACN,
Nurses are well-educated and positioned to help decrease the number of occurrences and potentially fatal outcomes of prescription opioid diversion (Manworren & Gilson, 2015). Nurses can educate patients who are prescribed painkillers the risks of opioid overdose and provide them with the proper information on how to dispose opioids that are no longer of use to them. Nurses should allow opportunities for feedback and evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategies used. They should also use information technologies to communicate health promotion and disease prevention information to the healthcare consumer in a variety of settings (ANA, 2010). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2008) states, in The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice, under Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health that it is essential for each and every nurse to promote health, and prevent injuries and diseases in order to improve public population health. “Clinical prevention refers to individually focused interventions such as immunizations, screenings, and counseling aimed at preventing escalation of diseases and conditions” (AACN,