Substance Abuse In Nursing

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.

One of the traits that all nurses, I believe, must have is to be able to work as a team. This trait regrettably can offset due to verbal abuse and other intimidating behaviors that can cause health professionals to refuse to share information needed to provide the best patient care. Communication between colleagues is needed because if does not exist this will again affect the patients care and their own safety.

. As a result, nurses could not perform well which compromise with the quality of service. This could be improved by increase in the staff member of the hospital. The nurses’ manager should discuss with the nurses about their occupational stress and reason behind poor performance. It is the responsibilities of leaders to find out the problem associated with work culture and should encourage the nursing staff to participate in decision making program.

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.

This growing epidemic needs to stop for a number of reasons. The number one priority is the patient’s safety. Some 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 missing. There are numerous reasons as to why nurses fall victim to substance abuse and addiction. Some reasons are working stress, easy access to medications, and being workaholic.

After noticing that your resource nurse is impaired several steps should occur. The nurse is not following appropriate ethical guidelines. According to lecture, ethics is defined as rules or standards that govern conduct. The nurse who has slurred speech and glassy eyes has the autonomy to make his/her own decisions, but showed up to work acting in a harmful manor to her patients. However, the new RN needs to alert her supervisors because everyone disserves to receive the care that is appropriate.

I would like to take this chance to accept this open door to attract thoughtfulness regarding an imperative issue in the nursing community. It's not regularly raised or discussed, but rather it’s developing commonness is disturbing. I am discussing substance misuse among medical professionals, specially among nurses and particularly the mishandle of opioid pharmaceuticals. “Every day, thousands of nurses’ struggle with substance abuse, a problem that can be invisible to their friends, family, and colleagues” (Telusca et al., 2015). These problems are particularly troubling in a provider population, as they can lead to serious safety issues for the patients’ nurses treat while under the influence.

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.

These stigmatizing attitudes toward the mentally ill can have very harmful effects on the individual themselves and their families. The negative attitudes result in social isolation, reduced opportunities, and the lack of self worth (Varcarolis, 2013, p. 18). Nursing graduates need to understand that psychiatric patients appear everywhere, not just in psychiatric settings. Knowing how to properly and appropriately care for them is vital to giving the best care each patient deserves. The challenges of social stigmas about mental illnesses affect graduate nurses in developing a therapeutic relationship, and need to adjust and implement appropriate nursing interventions.

A study of student nurses stated that “53 percent had been put down by a staff nurse, and 52 percent reported having been threatened or experienced verbal violence at work” (ANA Releases Updated Edition of Anti-Bullying Booklet, CE, 2012). For this reason, it is important for nurses to learn how to guard against bullies and for hospitals and other healthcare facilities to address these issues to maintain a safe and professional place of work (ANA Releases Updated Edition of Anti-Bullying Booklet, CE,