Abstract
Substance abuse among nurses can be compared in ratio with the statistics of substance abuse in the general population. That means approximately 10 percent of the nurses are diagnosed with signs and symptoms of drug abuse (Dunn, 2005). The reason behind the drug abuse of nurses is to reduce the work-related stress they are experiencing (Epstein, Burns, Conlon, 2010). This will affect the safety of the patients, especially those who have several medicine intakes since the nurse will be prone to medication errors and the possibility of a shortage of medical supplies. On the part of the nursing profession, this will create severe issues of malpractice and will affect the reputation of the doctors, nurses, and other staffs, as well as the whole nursing community and the medical profession (Dunn, 2005). As a solution to the problem, the nurses who are dependent on drug abuse should be detected and diagnosed as early as possible, in order to protect the safety of the patients and nursing profession against potential harm and issues in the future (Griffith, 1999). Knowing the present condition of drug abuse among nurses is important to preserve the quality of health care and reputation of nurses. Identifying the possible risks will be essential to make the most suitable steps and solutions to alleviate the problem. As for this case, identification of nurses at an early stage will stop further drug dependence, and will save both the patients and the jobs of the nurses against future harm and consequences.
Introduction
Many individuals resort to the recreational use of drugs and other substances to relieve or alleviate the stress and fatigue that surrounds them. Nurses, being one of the people that undergoes constant stress and fatigue, are not exempted from having the tendencies to do so. This is despite their awareness of how drug abuse may have implications for their physical and mental health. The volume and complexity of their professional tasks that include medicine preparation, regular rounds on patients, and many other stresses that comes from the environments other than the hospital may cause them to give themselves a “break” or a means to at least unwind. One may presume that since nurses are among the health care providers, they will be less inclined to drug abuse. However, studies show that the probability that a nurse uses drugs for recreational use is significantly close to the probability of the general population (Dunn, 2005).
Nurses, as part of the workforce that was tasked to look after the health of their patients, are individuals that may be corrupted. Being faced with substance abuse problems will not only affect themselves, but the persons surrounding them—including their patients. When one is under the influence of drugs, one cannot assure that mistakes will not happen. These mistakes are not permissible in the workplace, let alone in the health care facilities. Lives depend on nurses and it is the task of health care administrators to ensure that the services they provide are as faultless as possible. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze substance abuse among nurses and evaluate the current policies that govern this issue. In addition, suggestions to address this problem will also be stated.
References
Dunn, D. (2005). Substance abuse among nurses--defining the issue. Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses, 82(4), 573-582. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0001-2092(06)60028-8
Epstein, P., Burns, C., & Conlon, H. (2010). Substance abuse among registered nurses. American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 58(12), 513-516. doi: 10.1177/216507991005801203
Griffith, J. (1999). Substance abuse disorders in nurses. Nursing Forum, 34(4), 19-28. Retrieved February 14, 2016 from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10795265
