Pain is the leading cause of Emergency Department (ED) visits making it one of the primary concerns of the emergency medical field. The experience of pain is subjective and unique to every individual making it difficult to effectively manage. As a result, the subjective nature of pain is also commonly associated with drug-seekers often claiming to have pain simply to receive narcotics to support their addiction. There have been numerous studies completed to determine how to effectively recognize drug-seeking. This integrative literature review will identify the common behaviors that have been seen as indicators of drug-seeking in the ED. The evidence collected from articles published between 2001 and 2011 examined the use of assessment tools, drug screening, and prescription monitoring programs for distinguishing drug-seekers. The evidence did not identify a specific evaluation tool used to recognize drug-seekers; however, the research did suggested that using these techniques can help to identify drug-seeking behavior allowing emergency medical staff to effectively manage pain in the ED.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2193 |
| Date | 01 August 2011 |
| Creators | Bush Burman, Randi M. |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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