OVERVIEW

Prescription Drug Abuse: Knowing the Danger Signs is organized by Nurse.com - OnCourse Learning Corporation.

Course Originally Released on: 09/09/2002
Date of Most Recent Review: 12/31/2019
Course Termination/ Update Date: 12/31/2022

Accreditation: 1.0 Contact Hours

Course Description:
The nonmedical use of prescription drugs has been increasing rapidly in recent years. In 2011 there were 5.1 million drug-related ED visits, with almost one-half (49% or 2.5 million visits) attributed to drug misuse or abuse. Among visits involving drug misuse or abuse, 1.4 million visits involved pharmaceuticals.1 ED visits involving misuse or abuse of pharmaceuticals increased from 2004 (626,470 visits) through 2011 (1.4 million visits); the most common drugs involved were antianxiety and insomnia medications and narcotic pain relievers (160.9 and 134.8 visits per 100,000 population, respectively).

Conference Objectives:
The goal of this program is to provide nurses information about prescription drug abuse, high-risk groups, factors related to misuse, and assessment/treatment strategies. After studying the information presented here, you will be able to:
• Identify populations at greatest risk for prescription drug abuse
• Discuss health provider, patient and regulatory factors associated with prescription drug abuse
• Describe assessment strategies for suspected patient prescription drug abuse

Additional details will be posted as soon as they are available.