Immunopharmacotherapy for Opioid-Use Disorder: Feasibility of an Education Module
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Opioid-use disorder (OUD) has become a national crisis, killing over 100 Americans daily and costing 78 billion dollars annually. The current treatments for opioid abuse are associated with unfavorable side effects, illicit use, and costly maintenance. In contrast, opiate-specific vaccinations reduce the targeted opioid potency, brain concentration levels, and self-administration rates during pre-clinical trials, which limits over-dose induced lethality and decreases OUD. As a consequence, increasing the effective dose (ED50) of opioids would impact patient pain management by Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA). Increased knowledge of new treatments from interactive online-based learning allows CRNAs to provide effective, safe patient care and adequate treatment of pain for patients who may receive the opiate-specific vaccinations if they gain approval. Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNA) at AdventHealth University (AHU), however, have yet to develop an American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) approved continuing education (CE) module through the Echelon media development platform. Therefore, a feasibility study on the development of an online education module approved for CE credits by the AANA was conducted to determine the viability of digital education to CRNAs on the treatment of OUD with immunopharmacotherapy. The CE module received approval by the AANA for 1.00 Class A CE credit and 1.00 CE credit in pharmacology. A cost/benefit analysis revealed that the non-monetary benefits cause the process to be recommended for AHU, SRNAs, and healthcare professions. CE module development is projected to generate revenue for the University, increase name recognition, and offer extensive access to evidence-based knowledge at low cost and flexibility to CRNAs.