Articles: narcotic-antagonists.
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This study evaluated naloxone accessibility from chain pharmacies in Texas 32 months after state legislation allowing pharmacists to dispense naloxone under standing orders from authorizing prescribers.
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Buprenorphine has been used internationally for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) since the 1990s and has been available in the United States for more than a decade. Initial practice recommendations were intentionally conservative, were based on expert opinion, and were influenced by methadone regulations. Since 2003, the American crisis of OUD has dramatically worsened, and much related empirical research has been undertaken. ⋯ This article reviews research findings in the following 7 areas: location of buprenorphine induction, combining buprenorphine with a benzodiazepine, relapse during buprenorphine treatment, requirements for counseling, uses of drug testing, use of other substances during buprenorphine treatment, and duration of buprenorphine treatment. For each area, evidence for needed updates and modifications in practice is provided. These modifications will facilitate more successful, evidence-based treatment and care for patients with OUD.
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As the opioid crisis continues to worsen in the United States, nurses must take on a central role of intervention, which includes use of the opioid agonist medication, buprenorphine. The current article addresses the need to understand opioid use disorder as a chronic condition and increase access to treatment with pharmacotherapies, particularly buprenorphine, in outpatient settings. The pharmacological activity of buprenorphine is discussed, as well as the reasons for its underutilization, specifically stigma. Nurses can be frontline leaders in the fight against the opioid crisis by addressing stigma and increasing access to the life-saving medication, buprenorphine. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(11), 9-12.].