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Date of Award

Spring 4-24-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Nursing

Thesis Committee Chairperson

Wencan Lu, DNP, FNP, RN

Additional Advisor

Mary Frey, MSN, RN

Abstract

Opiate use disorder (OUD) has become an increasing problem causing undue strain on the emergency medical system (Carroll et al., 2023, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many members of the healthcare team cite difficulties working with this complex population, as substance abuse is often accompanied by other mental health diagnoses, and medical management is not widely taught in preparatory education but rather left to on-the-job training (Lindberg et al, 2022; Santo et al., 2022). Wang & Lee (2003) recognized this and developed a diagnostic tool meant to be administered by clinicians to assess acute opiate withdrawal: the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS). This 11-point scale can be implemented into the electronic medical record to assess acute withdrawal symptoms, assign a severity based on the symptoms, and direct administration of medication to treat acute withdrawal (Williams et al., 2022).

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