Our facility is in the process of updating our PCA prescribing policy and I am looking for a little feedback. The policy submitted to me for approval does not include an assessment of the patient's opiate status. I feel like there is a bigger risk for older adults who have never used any sort pain medications of having exaggerated results. Also, do others assess because of tolerance or even opiate abuse/dependence before they order the medications? Another question I have is, what about any sort of algorithm to not just straight to the PCA for patients experiencing pain from chemo/bio therapy and or BMT?
Thu, 11/09/2017 - 09:41
#1
opiate status assessment???