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Behavior and substance abuse related issues are also a challenge to the every section of the society. The problem of substance abuse has been common across all the cultures and occupations as well as nursing profession. The data suggests that one out of ten nurses may be impaired, taking drugs or has been a drug addict. According to the calculations of the American Nurses Association (1997) 10-20% nurses have the problem of chemical impairment or substance abuse and 6% to 8% registered nurses are the victim of substance addiction (Griffith, 1999). The condition is defined “impaired” when the habit of substance abuse of a chemically dependent nurse impacts the nursing practice. Most of the cases of substance abuse end up in termination of the licensure by the Nursing state boards for violations of the Nurse Practice Act (Caroselli-Karinja & Zboray, 1986).
This essay will discuss the legal and regulatory issues related to the substance abuse and chemical impairment in nursing practice. It will also highlight that what strategies and agendas should be considered by state and administrative bodies to identify and rehabilitate the impacted nurse.
Steps related to legal/regulatory issues
Chemically impaired nurses are dysfunctional and lose their competency to offer appropriate and safe nursing care. Though addiction is treated as a disease, the impaired nurse is completely accountable for taking wrong nursing decisions. So it is other nurses’ responsibility to identify and convey such cases to the administrative level. The first step is to recognize the issue as a leader nurse would require the identification of signs and symptoms of the impaired nurse that is followed by reporting the problem of the alleged co-worker to the management. The last step involves the assistance, treatment, and rehabilitation of the impacted nurse because an early detection can save nurses’ career as well as a valuable resource of society, because through an appropriate treatment complete recovery is possible (Clark & Farnsworth, 2006). The nurses are aware of all types of drugs and their consequences thus; the impacted one might be taking extra precautions to avoid revelation. Drug addiction is a compulsive behavior that affects the brain leading to an abusive, psychological or emotional condition. There are various reasons that can develop drug abusive behavior in a person including family circumstances, lack of support systems, unbalanced lifestyle, and socio-economic factors. The considerable points in such cases include absenteeism, poor performance, long breaks, excuses, frequent trips off the work, unfortunate judgment or mistakes, preference for separation, frequent use of breath purifiers and drugs (Impaired Practice in Nursing: A Guidebook for Interventions and Resources, 2011).State board recovery program
In the case of impairing and any service related carelessness, the practice licensure of the nurse is terminated. If the organization is held responsible for ignoring any impaired nurse, then it will be responsible for the injury or loss of the patient. The State Board of Nursing can take action and ask the manager to report the misconduct of nurse. Moreover, the State Boards have developed many Substance Abuse Recovery Programs such as PRN or Program for Recovering Nurses (PRN). Under this program, nurses are offered complete education, treatment, and screening system to support the impacted nurses besieged by addiction disorder. The PRN involves competent health care professionals who facilitate the confidential investigation of the suspected nurses (Clark & Farnsworth, 2006).
Strategies
Our strategy regarding impaired nurses is to identify, refer, monitor and treat the alleged individuals. Though organizing occupational programs, this process can be conducted easily. Moreover, the nurses should be treated as a valuable resource instead of treating them like a common disposable part of the society because early detection of the symptom and treatment can enable them for proper practice. It will be helpful from the both perspectives of the society.
The alleged nurse should be assisted by the coworkers and suggested to take medical leaves to overcome this issue to protect the license from jeopardy in the case of continuance of substance abuse. Furthermore, a strict criterion should be followed by the nursing boards while recruiting them to different agencies that include a thorough analysis of their background, health and family history.
Supporting evidence
Many studies have been conducted that analyzed the signs and causes of drug addiction among nurses as well as evaluated the nurse recovery programs developed by multiple State Boards of Nursing. Evidence has demonstrated that early treatment and proper aftercare have enabled many nursing professionals to continue their nursing practices with full dedication. Many researchers have concluded that segregation of impaired nursing professionals from nursing practice is not an effectual solution. According to a reflective study on PRN, more than half of the nurses who completed the course joined the practice actively (Clark & Farnsworth, 2006).
Conclusion
In this essay, it is highlighted that there are various external factors leading to the chemical impairment in nursing individuals. So it is necessary to detect and treat them early so that they can continue their practice without any permanent loss. The essay concludes that treating and monitoring them followed by proper rehabilitation and post surveillance is the better options rather than blocking them from practicing.
References
Caroselli-Karinja, M. F., & Zboray, S. D. (1986). The impaired nurse. Journal of psychosocial
nursing and mental health services, 24(6), 14-19.
Clark, C., & Farnsworth, J. (2006). Program for recovering nurses: An evaluation. Medsurg
Nursing, 15(4), 223.
Griffith, J. (1999, October). Substance abuse disorders in nurses. In Nursing forum (Vol. 34, No.
4, pp. 19-28). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Impaired Practice in Nursing: A Guidebook for Interventions and Resources. (2011) (1st ed., pp.
1-26). Canton.
