MDS Alert
Patient Safety Tip:
Resident Opioid Naïve? Beware This Drug
Published on Thu Aug 06, 2009 
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Prevent falls, oversedation.
A lot of surgeons order the patches because they are easy to use, cautions Albert Barber, PharmD, with Golden Living in Fort Smith, Ark. "But we have seen people with no tolerance to opioids use the patches and fall or worse," he cautions.
Bottom line: "The fentanyl patches should be reserved for people who for some reason can't swallow pills but have been on other opioid medications, so you are transferring them to fentanyl," counsels Barber.
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