Safe and Sound
Each year, tens of thousands of people die from an opioid or medication overdose. Many of them are children.
Cook Children’s Safe and Sound Pain Management Program is dedicated to finding better ways to manage pain in children.
We know that everyone feels pain in different ways. That's why it's important to make sure there are better tools and treatments to control their pain. How? By empowering communities to take charge of medication safety.
We're doing this by educating them on:
- Safe dosing
- Safe storage
- Safe disposal of medications
Together with our Opioid Stewardship Committee, we've also:
- Created provider guidelines
- Improved staff and family education
- Integrated electronic health records
- Partnered with community resources
Through these efforts, we're already making great strides. We've reduced the number of opioids prescribed to our patients by half. At the same time, we're providing safer, more effective ways to control pain for children.
Opioid Stewardship Committee Charter: Our mission is to improve patient safety, reduce the risk for potential child addiction, ingestion, misuse, overdose, and death, while promoting best practices through the safe and sound management of pain.
If a poisoning does happen, call the North Texas Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 (add this number to your cell phone right now). Calls are answered by nurses and pharmacists and 80 percent of them are handled at home, without going to the Emergency Room. Call 9-1-1 if your child won't wake up, is having trouble breathing or is having seizures.
Poison prevention tips Visit meddropbox.org
Approved for opioid CME requirement
(for license renewal after Sep. 2020)
- Opioid: Safe and Effective Pain Management: Opioid Prescribing, Part 1
- Opioid: Safe and Effective Pain Management: Opioid Prescribing, Part 2
- Opioid: Safe and Effective Pain Management: Opioid Prescribing, Part 3
Nursing education
Provider education
- The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Pediatric Patients (Sept. 2018)
- The Road to Patient/Family Experience (Comfort Menu @ Minute 52 - 58 Oct. 2018)
- Neurological Perspective of Yoga Therapy for Pain Reduction (Jan. 2019)
Opioid epidemic resources
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Medical Association
- Centers for Disease Control
- The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Pediatric Patients (Sept. 2018 Grand Rounds)
- The Road to Patient/Family Experience (Comfort Menu @ Minute 52 - 58 | Oct. 2018 Grand Rounds)
- Neurological Perspective of Yoga Therapy for Pain Reduction (Jan. 2019 Grand Rounds)
- Teen Opioid Overdoses Spike at Cook Children's (July 2021)
Engage your patients in choosing nonpharmacologic and low-risk pharmacologic pain management techniques as preferred first-line treatments. Use a pediatric comfort menu to aid in the discussions. The comfort menu is available in both English and Spanish.
Comfort Menu
This tool should be administered to patients upon an initial visit prior to beginning opioid therapy for pain management.
|
Mark each box that applies |
Female |
Male |
|
Age between 16-45 years |
1 |
1 |
|
History of preadolescent sexual abuse |
3 |
0 |
|
Family history of substance abuse |
||
|
Alcohol |
1 |
3 |
|
Illegal drugs |
2 |
3 |
|
Prescription drugs |
4 |
4 |
|
Personal history of substance abuse |
||
|
Alcohol |
3 |
3 |
|
Illegal drugs |
4 |
4 |
|
Prescription drugs |
5 |
5 |
|
Psychological disease |
||
|
ADD, OCD, bipolar, schizophrenia |
2 |
2 |
|
Depression |
1 |
1 |
|
Scoring totals |
|
|
- A score of 3 or lower indicates low risk for future opioid abuse
- A score of 4 to 7 indicates moderate risk for opioid abuse
- A score of 8 or higher indicates a high risk for opioid abuse
Questionnaire developed by Lynn R. Webster, MD to assess risk of opioid addiction.
Webster LR, Webster R. Predicting aberrant behaviors in opioid-treated patients: preliminary validation of the opioid risk tool. Pain Med. 2005; 6 (6):432
Other Evidence-Based Screening Tools:
- Clinician Tools - SBIRT for Substance Abuse
SBIRT = Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment
A complete pain care plan includes assessing and addressing psychosocial aspects of pain such as stress, distress anxiety, and depression. The following list contains programs that can assist with coping strategies, behavioral modification, or chemical dependencies.
For questions, contact Psychiatry Intake at 682-885-3917
Texas Prescription Monitoring Program
The Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) is an electronic database used to collect and monitor prescription data for all controlled substances dispensed by a pharmacy in Texas or to a Texas resident from a pharmacy located in another state. The PMP also provides a venue for monitoring patient prescription history to eliminate duplication or overprescribing of controlled substances.
Website: AWARxE
Video: How to Use
Support: 844-489-4767
Quick reference guide
Frequently asked questions
March 1, 2020: Mandatory Review of PMP
Regulations mandate accessing the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) before prescribing or dispensing opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or carisoprodol. Source: Texas House Bill 3284 and 2561
Exceptions can be made when the prescriber clearly notes that the prescription is for a patient diagnosed with cancer, hospice care, or sickle cell anemia. Source: Texas House Bill 2561 and Senate Bill 1564