The Economic Impact of the Opioid Use Disorder Epidemic in America: Nurses' Call to Action

The unprecedented public health opioid epidemic in America has created a tremendous economic burden. Exorbitant costs from premature mortality, criminal justice, childcare and family assistance, lost productivity, and healthcare services are skyrocketing. Given the escalating economic burden of this national crisis, nurses as frontline providers are called to action to combat the opioid epidemic through the provision of comprehensive, cost-effective, humanistic levels of prevention, including primary, secondary, and tertiary care.