Nurses should communicate all pertinent information
regarding patients’ risk during shift report and across all
transitions in care from pre-hospitalization to discharge
to ensure that health care providers are informed of potential
risks for unintended advancing sedation and respiratory
depression with opioid therapy. Class I
A. Including information about a patient’s potential
risk for adverse effects from opioids during all
levels of hand-offs of care helps to promote highquality
and safe patient care.
B. Nurses can act as advocates to also ensure that patients
are informed and educated about any risk factors
that they may have, actual problems with
opioid therapy that they may have experienced
during hospitalization, and current or future implications
for specific interventions for respiratory
care or diagnostic evaluations.