Prescription opioid abuse is on the rise. Pennsylvania nurse practitioners are in a position to propagate or improve this problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge, beliefs, and prescribing practices of Pennsylvania nurse practitioners to understand the concerns associated with treating chronic pain with opioid medications. Members of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners were emailed an invitation to complete an anonymous online survey. The survey instrument, the Practices and Perceptions of Primary Care Physicians with Regard to Chronic Pain and Prescription Opioid Use Survey, developed by Keller, was modified with permission to apply to nurse practitioners. Thirty-four nurse practitioners completed the survey, although incomplete surveys were submitted by some of the participants. The majority of participants were female (69.7%) family nurse practitioners (82.4%) working in primary care (76.5%) who prescribe opioids for chronic non-malignant pain (81.8%). Participants indicated chronic pain as being prevalent yet controlled in less than 20% of their patients. These findings, coupled with reluctance to prescribe opioids due to concerns for physical dependence, discomfort with managing patients with opioid dependence, and a rating of education in this area as just adequate, suggest the need for additional education, resources, and support in this area. A topic for further investigation is whether the prescribing practic match the self-identified opioid knowledge, belief, and practices of nurse practitioners who prescribe opioid medications.
