Chronic Pain Management and Nurse Practitioners Term Paper

Chronic Pain Management and Nurse Practitioners - Term Paper Example Recent increased focus on pain via hospice programs, state, national, international pain gatherings, pain clinics and professional pain organizations confirm the importance accorded to chronic pain and its management in the healthcare sector. This level of attention notwithstanding, a good number of family and primary care nurses and nursing students are poorly armed with the information, skills and awareness to manage chronic pain (Arnstein, P., and Marie, B. St., 2010). In addition, patients and their loved ones lack the latest and the most accurate information on effective pain management (Droes, 2004). These problems are further compounded by certain misconceptions about chronic pain, which include the beliefs that most chronic pain patients receive enough pain treatment and that non-oral routes are preferred for opioid administration (Droes, 2004). The other misconceptions are that relief from pain is not a treatment outcome and that many patients exaggerate their pain. These ar e some of the misconceptions that nurse practitioners should drop to efficiently treat chronic pain (Droes, 2004). This paper explores the difficulties of treating chronic pain and barriers such as inadequate training and education, financial barriers and impacts, and issues of state and federal policies and guidelines on pain management. Specifically, the paper will focus on the healthcare economic issues surrounding nurse practitioners’ pain management efforts. Role of Nurse Practitioners in Chronic Pain Management According to a publication by the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation released on December 15, 2010, the issue of moderate and severe chronic pain has been largely ignored in the sector just like the issue of derisory management and treatment of chronic pain, not to mention the misuse, abuse, and diversion of prescription opioids (Arnstein, P., and Marie, B. St., 2010). In fact, that millions of U.S. citizens use millions of pain relievers for non-medical re asons annually should be a wakeup call for medical practitioners and the relevant state and federal authorities. Importantly, health care practitioners ought to address these issues to avert and avoid resultant problems such as overdoes, increased illness and injury risks and even death in some cases (Arnstein, P., and Marie, B. St., 2010). These problems not only affect individuals but also impinge on the welfare of the larger community. This situation calls on well-meant nurse practitioners to rise to the occasion and properly prescribe and dispense pain relievers. More concernedly, opioids for chronic pain should be handled with more caution and keenness since the health care economic impacts are direr, more so for patients and members of public who may use opioids in a manner not recommended (Richardson & Poole, 2001). To know their roles in managing and treating chronic pain, advanced nurse practitioners should first understand the problem of chronic pain. First, it is of the e ssence that nurse practitioners appreciate that chronic and acute pains are worldwide health problems, which can be treated. However, chronic pain has not been associated with the benefits of acute pain, which may have protective effects on illnesses and injuries in certain instances. On the other hand, some experts regard chronic pain as a high prevalence disease on its own. In fact, by 2006, about 76

Sources of Middle East terrorism. How and why did Isis form Essay

Sources of Middle East terrorism. How and why did Isis form - Essay Example The power of ISIS has grown over the last three years, especially with the beginning of the Arab Spring, to such an extent that it has been able to directly challenge some governments within the Middle East and make significant territorial and strategic gains against them. These advancements have made it essential for studies to be conducted concerning this organization as well as its rise. ISIS came into existence because of diverse factors, which include political, economic and organizational factors that have turned it from a small jihadist force into a potential state. ISIS was formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq and it was formed after the American invasion of Iraq as a means of opening an al Qaeda front within this country. As an al Qaeda franchise, this organization took most of its direction from the leadership of the latter and it is through financial support from al Qaeda that it was able to gain a lot of strength within Iraq (Fishman 46). Its founder, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, swore allegiance to al Qaeda and it as under his leadership that this organization was able to build a powerful network within Iraq. However, the United States and its Sunni allies were able to destroy this organization’s influence in Iraq and kill al Zarqawi, essentially eliminating it as a serious threat (Phillips 64). However, the Arab Spring gave this organization a new lease of life as it joined other jihadist groups in Syria in the fight against the Assad government. The result was that it increasingly took on a more radical approach and it came to a point whe re it came into direct conflict with another al Qaeda affiliate, the al Nusra Front. The conflict between these two groups showed the emerging cracks between al Qaeda in Iraq and the leadership of the al Qaeda organization and this relationship was broken abruptly when the latter broke off all associations because of the extreme and brutal nature of the former. It