Opioid Analgesics in Acute Settings
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This course is free for qualified workplaces
What you will learn
This e-learning course promotes the safe management of opioid analgesics, a commonly used group of high risk medicines.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this course you will be able to:
- explain what opioid analgesics are
- analyse why opioid analgesics are high risk medicines
- define differences between opioid equivalencies
- identify risks associated with different opioid analgesic formulations
- identify risks associated with look-alike, sound-alike (LASA) opioid analgesics
- distinguish between opioid analgesics in relation to prescription and administration in acute, chronic and cancer pain settings
- review the use of more than one opioid analgesic for an individual patient
- monitor opioid analgesics and adverse effects in patients
- determine an appropriate dose and duration of opioid analgesics on discharge.
Target Audience
This course is intended for all healthcare staff involved in the management of high risk medicines, specifically opioid analgesics.
Duration
The course is designed to take around an hour to complete.
Certificate
On successful completion of the assessments you can download a certificate of completion.
Compliance
This course aligns with the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, Second Edition – Standards 1, 2, 4 & 6.
Disclaimer
This course content was developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and is protected by copyright under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike (BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International License.
The content is provided in good faith by the Commission for information purposes. It is not a substitute for, and is not intended to replace, any specific policies, guidelines or requirements for your local health network or health service.
The Commission does not accept any legal liability or responsibility for any injury, loss or damage incurred by the use of, or reliance on, this information.
Resources
The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards
National Tall Man Lettering List
Recommendations for terminology, abbreviations and symbols used in medicines documentation.
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA)
ANZCA, Faculty of Pain Medicine
NPS MedicineWise
The resources page includes clinical resources and tools, eLearning and consumer facing resources.
Opioid analgesics in chronic non-cancer pain, eLearning
Analgesia for low back pain, eLearning
Information about opioids and chronic non-cancer pain
Australian Government, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Prescription opioids: Information for health professionals. Oct 2020Clinician information sheet on opioid analgesic tapering: summary. Oct 2020.
Australian Government, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
Revised opioids PBS listings. June 2020.Government of South Australia
Clinical Guideline for Prescribing Opioids on Discharge. October 2020.
SA Health Information for patients given oxycodone for short-term treatment of acute pain.
