[oramar]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08128/879502-114.stm

[Mijourney]

This is a tough topic to face. My understanding is that a double digit percentage of nurses are substance abusers. I have experienced several instances of coworkers being users and not all of them were in their 20's. What can one do about this when someone they know is seeking a high in an inappropriate way and not able to cope with reality? Should there be better screening methods for attending nursing school?

[namaste_71]

How's this for scary:
A family member spent a few days on the local inpatient psych unit. She'd apparently expressed some suicidal ideations and was very stubborn and argumentative with staff.

I understand patients like him can be challenging. One of the staff on the unit -- not sure whether she was RN, LPN or tech -- gave him a handful of Xanax and told him if he wanted to kill himself, that was the way to go.
It's most likely the Xanax came from this person's personal "stash."

(I was able to verify this "off the record," but of course administration denied it could ever happen. Hate to break it to the charge nurse on duty that day, but it's not impossible to steal meds from a Pyxis or barcode system. Nor is it impossible for people to bring something in in a pocket. But that's another story.)