Opioids and Other Analgesics

Course Overview

This Course explores evidence-based guidelines for pain management and includes information on acute, chronic and post-surgical pharmacological pain relief using a multidisciplinary approach.

Topics

• Non-opioid analgesics;
• Opioid analgesics;
• Other therapies for pain management.

Need

About 20% of Australians suffer chronic pain, and this will increase as the population ages. In up to 5% (or about one million people), the pain has a significant impact on function and quality of life. Australia’s multidisciplinary pain clinics cannot see this number of patients, therefore much of the load for managing people with chronic pain falls on general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and nurses.

Optimal management involves both non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches that focus on preventing disease and stopping progression, as opposed to just targeting palliation of disease. There have been many adverse events (including drug interactions) reported with many analgesics, as well as underuse and overuse of analgesia, resulting in changes to guidelines.

Purpose

The purpose of this Course is to provide a review of pharmacological options and their uses for effective relief of acute or chronic pain.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate an understanding of the pharmacology of analgesics in order to facilitate safe and effective pain relief for patients.
• Apply current knowledge of non-opioid analgesics for the safe administration of these medicines.
• Use knowledge about complementary therapies for pain management to guide patients in their pain management plan.

Target Audience

This Course is relevant to registered nurses and other health professionals, especially those who may administer or prescribe opioids and analgesics, as part of the management of acute, chronic and post-surgical pain.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educator

Jenny Gowan

Jenny Gowan, a practising pharmacist, is a teaching associate at Monash University, Melbourne and a clinical associate of RMIT University. She is a member of the PSA Branch committee, the Expert Group for Therapeutic Guidelines – Respiratory version 5, an editorial board member of AUS-DI, SHPA "Don’t Rush to Crush", the Guidelines Committee for the Australian Asthma Handbook (AAH) and the writing group for the RACGP ‘Medical Care of older persons in RACF’ (Silver book). Jenny is an accredited consultant pharmacist who conducts her own company, which focuses on medication reviews in the home and aged care facilities, plus education, writing, training and consultation. Jenny works regularly in community pharmacy plus sessions in a GP clinic at a community health centre. She has published over 400 educational articles. Jenny has presented talks at many Australian and international conferences to GPs, nurse practitioners, nurses, podiatrists, pharmacists, and other health professionals. In 2013, she was awarded the Australian Pharmacist of the Year by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and, in 2016, the AACP-MIMs Australian Consultant Pharmacist of the Year. See Educator Profile