Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, explains the current escalation of the opioid crisis in the United States.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, says that patients are fearful of beginning opioid medication because of the risk of addiction.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, describes some strategies the healthcare team can employ to assure patients that their opioid medications will be closely monitored and that there are additional methods to deal with pain.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, offers suggestions that navigators can use to manage patients' opioid treatments.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, describes sources of patients' pain and how to help them manage it.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, discusses alternative ways to address patients' pain.

Sometimes an opioid medication is the only thing that will alleviate pain, explains Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, and will need to be managed carefully.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, discusses the steps to take when patients are struggling with medications.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, enumerates some of the red flags that navigators should watch for with patients taking opioids.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, discusses what to do when a patient has developed a possible addiction to their opioid medications.

Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Supportive Care Department, advises providers to enroll in a national pharmacy database prescription monitoring program and to educate patients about their medications and the ways in which they must be used.