Is there Safe Fentanyl Use?


I am Adela Sanchez, BSN, RN, PHN. I am a registered nurse in practice for the last 13 years. I spent most of my career in Labor & Delivery hospital units. I also have home health experience, a bit of PACU, and now a bit of school nursing. I was born and raised in Oceanside. I have a love for community and family.  I share in hopes to promote education and encourage each person’s own growth.

Fentanyl

As a former labor and delivery nurse, I’ve administered fentanyl many times. It works effectively for immediate pain relief and has a short half-life (its effects leave the body quickly). Fentanyl is used all over hospitals in surgeries, for pain relief, and for cancer patients.  

We cannot ignore the benefits of fentanyl when prescribed correctly. The National Institutes of Health states when prescribed by a doctor, fentanyl can be given as a shot, a patch that is put on a person’s skin, or as lozenges that are sucked like cough drops. These medications can be very beneficial when consumed as prescribed. Individuals with chronic pain and increased tolerance need relief to continue daily life. The CDC has offered guidelines in 2016 and in 2022 for opioid prescription. The guidelines aim to reduce unnecessary prescriptions while allowing use for necessary medical conditions.

We all can agree, fentanyl is a powerful medication. Medications consumed above therapeutic levels pose health risks. Since fentanyl is so much stronger than morphine, illicit chemical modifications and mixtures with other opioids or benzodiazepines pose even more hazard. The fentanyl manufactured on the illicit market is not regulated so many times one fentanyl laced pill can have double or triple what another one in the same batch might have.

Here is where I advocate for easily accessible fentanyl test strips and Narcan. These test strips allow for quick testing (about 5 minutes) for fentanyl lacing in a drug. Narcan reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. They are easy ways to keep people alive.

Support

Support exists in San Diego County, California in limited resources. You may be the support person someone needs. Encourage your friend or family member to join a recovery group if abuse is suspected. Offer to go with them to meetings or help make phone calls.

·         Know your community support programs.

o   Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego (HRCSD) offers training, education, harm reduction supplies and overdose prevention.

o   Family Health Centers of San Diego’s (FHCSD) offers a Syringe Services Program (SSP). San Diego’s only syringe exchange program and offers comprehensive services to help people who inject substances to reduce their risk of HIV and hepatitis transmission. The mobile SSP unit provides individuals with harm reduction education, case management, referrals to treatment and detoxification programs and one-for-one syringe exchange.

·         Advocate for free fentanyl test strips.

o   The availability of testing strips is currently minimal, and some states have laws against them, classifying them as "drug paraphernalia." Test strips are currently sold online at dancesafe.org and Amazon. Some harm reduction programs also offer them free under state programs.  

·         Advocate for free Narcan Programs

o   Learn how to use Narcan and have it available whenever opioids are used. 

Except for suicides, overdose deaths are always accidental. 
We don’t punish accidents; we respond with empathy and assistance.

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