My personal research interest is prescription drug abuse prevention in adults. A large population uses prescription as a cheap and easy alternative to going to the hospital. In a regular family in the US, do not lack a bottle or packet of painkillers. Studies show that the uptake of prescribed drugs in America has been on the rise. Although all age groups take these drugs, a larger percentage of the users have been found to be the elderly. The younger population is not guilty of these acts because they depend on their parents in the purchase of the drugs. This paper will deal with abuse of over-the-counter drugs in adults (Crowley et al., 2014).

Although most people who use prescription drugs use them responsibly, the percentage of the abusers is increasing at a steady rate. The younger generation is involved in this abuse. However, a larger percentage in their group tends to abuse the illegal drugs such as cocaine. The prevalence of abuse is high in older generations because of their habits and the state of their health. Drug abuse can be viewed in a number of ways, for instance, when a person takes the wrong dosage from that prescribed by a physician or takes a drug meant for another use to treat another disease. It also includes taking drugs, which are medically unnecessary (Shannon, 2010).

The importance of prevention of abuse of drug abuse in adults comes when these drugs start affecting the health status of their users. Increased drug abuse may lead to physical and mental impairment. These conditions are dangerous to the working population (Crowley et al., 2014). Any country that has a passion of raising its economy would want its working population healthy. Reports have emerged of deaths that occur due to overdose of these drugs. People who abuse them have a tendency of losing concentration, hence causing danger to the community, for example, on the road. Prescription drugs have a tendency of making its user dependent on them to a state where they cannot live without them. It is, therefore, critical to prevent its abuse instead of treating its consequences. Abuse in the older generation occurs due to taking of these drugs unknowingly. Therefore, the nurses have a responsibility of informing this generation on the use of these drugs. Their vulnerability to abuse is high because they tend to use these drugs more. They are also bound to experience more problems due to increased sensitivity of their bodies because of age (Crowley et al., 2014).

This study is crucial because it will aid in designing a proper plan of dealing with the abuse. The outcome of the study will give the nurses tasked with personal care extra knowledge in the course of their undertakings.

Nursing is the greatest profession on earth simply because of its responsibility in the health care setting. Nurses are the closest people to the patients because they take long times with the patients. In recent years, nursing has improved as a profession. The inclusion of nursing in the curriculum of advanced institutions means that the nurses are equipped with the knowledge to deal with medical cases that arise. Evolution of the health sector to include primary care in which different types of nurses are tasked with the duty of caring for patients with particular health needs means that the sector is headed in the right direction (Shannon, 2010).

Abuse of drugs can be either intentional or unintentional. In addition, it is true to say that, the aged generation is more vulnerable to prescription drug abuse due to their increased usage and lack of adequate knowledge on its usage. The nurses can be of help to this group especially when a group of nurses is assigned to a certain part of the country to oversee these people’s health. The nurses can also be assigned oversight over chemists and pharmacies that sell these drugs to overlook the distribution of these drugs (Crowley et al., 2014).

Nurses can make this vice disappear because of their acquired ability and passion for providing immaculate health care to the residents. The availability of nurses who are trained in personal care means that these people with the problem with prescription can be helped individually (Shannon, 2010).

The evolvement of nursing as a profession over the years has been encouraging. The training and learning system has also improved considerably. Higher educational institutions offer nursing courses, a development that has improved the standards of the profession. Despite the high value of professionalism in the sector and the fact that nurses have been trained to help patients on their own, many governments, including some states in the US still deem fit for them to be supervised. Many states require nurses with their practices to have collaborations with a physician. These physicians act as an oversight on the activities of these nurses and their practices. The governments of various states must recognize the qualifications of these nurses and leave them to do their work so long as it is in conformance with the law and the nurse’s abilities and training standards (Shannon, 2010).

References

Crowley, D. M., Jones, D. E., Coffman, D. L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2014). Can we build an efficient response to the prescription drug abuse epidemic? Assessing the cost effectiveness of universal prevention in the PROSPER trial. Preventive Medicine, 62, 71-77.

Shannon, J. B. (2010). Drug abuse sourcebook: basic consumer health information about the abuse of cocaine, club drugs, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, marijuana, and other illicit substances, prescription medications, and over-the-counter medicines … (3rd ed.). Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics.