Analgesic Overdose
Course #34023 - $30 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Over-the-counter analgesics acetaminophen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen are very popular. Unfortunately, they are also the cause of thousands of intentional and unintentional overdoses each year. Because they are inexpensive and widely available, these agents are often used with the intent to cause self-harm. With the proper treatment, patients who have taken a toxic dose of one of these medications should recover without sequelae, and the treatment of deliberate overdoses of acetaminophen, aspirin, and the other NSAIDs is best described in one word: simple. However, poison center experience indicates a knowledge gap in what many nurses know and what they need to know to deliver good care in these situations. These knowledge gaps can and do cause errors in treatment, some minor and some serious. This course will provide nurses with comprehensive and up-to-date information about acetaminophen, aspirin, and NSAID poisoning. Assessment and treatment will be thoroughly explained, and common management errors (what they are and how to avoid them) will be discussed. This knowledge will allow nurses to provide the best possible care in cases of analgesic overdose, improving patient outcomes and avoiding potentially damaging long-term effects.
This course is designed for nurses who will be caring for patients who have taken an overdose of acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen.
The purpose of this course is to provide nurses with the information necessary to identify and treat analgesic overdoses in order to prevent unnecessary sequelae.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the pathophysiology of acetaminophen poisoning.
- Identify the toxic dose of acetaminophen and components of the assessment of patients with suspected overdose.
- Evaluate approaches available for the treatment of acetaminophen poisoning.
- Outline the initial assessment and care of a patient who has taken an overdose of aspirin.
- Discuss antidotal therapies and specific interventions used for the treatment of aspirin poisoning.
- Cite the toxic dose of ibuprofen and signs and symptoms of ibuprofen overdose.
- Describe the treatment of a patient who has taken an overdose of ibuprofen.
Dana Bartlett, RN, BSN, MSN, MA, CSPI, is a Certified Specialist in Poison Information. He worked at the Poison Control Center in Philadelphia as a hotline operator from 1993 until 2011. From 2011 to the present, he has been working as a hotline operator at the Connecticut Poison Control Center. Mr. Bartlett received his BSN from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1976; his MSN from Boston University in 1978; and his MA in journalism from Temple University in 1988. His clinical experience includes 6 years as an ICU nurse and 10 years as an ER nurse. He has authored more than 100 continuing education modules for RNs and allied health personnel, and he has been published in Nursing Magazine, OR Nurse, Journal of Emergency Nursing, Legal Nurse Consultant, American Nurse Today, Journal of Emergency Services, and Orthopedics Today. He has also authored textbook chapters and NCLEX material and has edited and reviewed for several major publishers.
Contributing faculty, Dana Bartlett, RN, BSN, MSN, MA, CSPI, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.