Nursing Substance Abuse

This growing epidemic needs to stop for a number of reasons. The first priority is the safety of the patients. The other reasons would be the safety of the nurse, the costs that tie into this, and the wasted time trying to figure out what is not accounted for. There are numerous reasons as to why nurses fall victim to substance abuse and addiction. Some of the main reasons are the following: job stress, easy access to medications, and being workaholic.

Protecting patients from unsafe practices and personnel is the primary responsibility of each supervisory board of nursing. However, the fear of punishment from the board or termination keeps many nurses unwilling to come forward (Maher-Brisen 2007). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the viability of mandating random drug testing for nurses and other health professionals. The objective of this would be to address the rooted issues of substance abuse and decrease the risk of harm to patients under the healthcare provider’s care. Argument for Drug Testing A nurse is required to exercise appropriate clinical judgment and respond safely and quickly in order to effectively care for a patient.

document could be in any form written or computerized. The documentation error should be minimizing to maintain the quality of service. Negligence is one of the major problem in nursing field. Nurses neglect the important thing due to which there are more probability of having legal sue as well. The negligence of the nurses may risk the life of the patient.

Factors that are contributing to substance abuse among nurses need to be further explored to combat the issue and provide better quality care for patients. Analysis There are several contributing factors to substance abuse among nurses such as family, and stress. Nurses who have family members with emotional problems and inability to cope, alcoholism, and drug use, have been linked to a higher risk of substance abuse (Talbert, 2009). Coming from a family that relies on substances tempts the nurse to be chemically dependent when experiencing high job demands. "Stress in the workpl... ... middle of paper ... ...clusion Substance abuse in the field of nursing has become a serious problem.

A nurse suffering from substance abuse is an issue that terrorizes the adequate skills to the standards of the nursing profession and providing the excellence of care. Nurses are legally and ethically accountable to report colleagues who exhibit actions of impairment. Nurses must not only be advocates for patients, but additionally be advocates for other nurses. The leading factor that puts nurses at the greatest risk for alcohol abuse is a family history. Nurses, who hold a history of emotional damage, drug use, alcoholism, or emotional mistreatment in the family, may result in a low self-worth of the individual.

There are programs and peer support groups that help nurses with rehabilitation and returning to work. However, the stigma attached to having an addiction and distrust can make it difficult for coworkers to forgive and allow the nurse to reenter the profession, because it “threatens professional standards, conduct and morals” (Cook, 2013, p.21). In times of nursing shortages, it is imperative to allow these nurses to return to the nursing profession and earn back the trust of coworkers and society. Literature Review Substance abuse is a disease that affects nurses to the same extent as the general population. “Addiction is a chronic, progressive and potentially fatal disease involving the continued, often compulsive, use of mood-altering, habit-forming substances despite perceived negative consequences” (Patrick, 2010, p. 8).

We need to realize the roles nurses have, and how important they are to us when it comes to our health. Nurses are being overworked, patients’ are not getting the good quality care they need, and some ways to stay away from a nurse shortage are that nurses should be paid more and have better or more benefits. Without our nurses, we would have many problems to deal with, such as our health and patient care in hospitals. Nurses give patients’ medicine they would need and would have to check up on each patient they have. With a nursing shortage, it would be a more stressful and difficult working environment for nurses because they would have more patients’ and less time on their hands to make sure that each of their patients’ are taken care of.

Therefore, finding a balance between lowering stress levels of staff and increasing the quality of patient care is of the utmost importance. Nursing surveillance, a principal assignment of acute care nurses, is critical to patient wellbeing and outcomes. The staff that is responsible for the treatment and care of patients have a duty that is demanding, challenging, vigorous and vital to the wellness of the patient. There is a large problem involving nurse staffing and the rise in adverse clinical results have been recognized when hospital nurse staffing is insufficient. Most hospitals limit nurse staffing to levels for usual rather than peak patient census, substantial census surges create serious probable stresses for both patients and nurses.

It does not matter how long a nurse has been on the job, burn out syndrome is a common issue with any career but hits home mainly in the healthcare field. Doctors and nurses experience this if they do not have perseverance it may happen a lot sooner than others. By having perseverance, a nurse is able to look at the more positive points and avoid quitting due to burn out. Perserverance allows nurses to not feel angry, depressed, or unhappy towards their patients because of burn out. Nurses that experience burn out are also more likely to change careers as well as doubt their skills.

Making the decision to become a nurse is a tough decision. The nurse has to put aside their feelings, beliefs and judgments in order to provide the best possible care for their patients. Being a nurse can be a rewarding career but there are risks associated with the profession. Nurses not only face injuries from patient care but they also face violence in the workplace. Nurses face injury from needle sticks, handling hazardous drugs such as cancer drugs, musculoskeletal injuries from lifting and transferring patients, exposure to body fluids, and violence in the workplace.