The nursing profession has a variety of great advantages for its 3 million members. On the other hand, nursing is also permeated with a number of downsides that come with the territory of providing care to sick patients. And some of these downsides can be downright hazardous to the health and safety of nursing staff.
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The nursing profession is filled with an array of recognized advantages. For starters, nurses have prospects for professional growth through furthering their education, switching specialties and attaining certifications. Nurses also have opportunities for personal growth through cultivating their internal views on matters such as death and dying, individual responsibility, autonomy, and various social issues. Furthermore, nurses possess the truly awesome chance to positively impact the lives of the patients with whom they interact.
On the other hand, nursing is pervaded with a number of downsides, some of which can be downright hazardous to one's health, safety, financial situation and family / personal life. We are certainly mindful that some of these risks come with the territory of providing care for sick individuals. However, are we really cognizant about the scores of ghastly threats that await us at the workplace?
Tuberculosis
Nurses who work in jails, prisons, free clinics, emergency departments, group homes, pulmonary units in long term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), and community health centers have the highest risk of contracting tuberculosis because the patient populations in these settings typically have not been tested. Some of the patients are infected with tuberculosis, but have not been screened or diagnosed with the disease.
Divorce
According to a 2010 study, registered nurses have a divorce rate that is slightly higher than the national average. The divorce rate of licensed practical / vocational nurses (LPNs / LVNs) is significantly higher than the national average. Many nurses work odd shifts and nontraditional hours, which doesn't exactly enrich peoples' personal or family lives.
Drug Addiction
According to commonly cited statistics from the American Nurses Association, one in ten nurses (approximately ten percent) currently abuse drugs or are in recovery from substance addiction or alcoholism. While nurses are not any more likely to become addicted than other elements of the general population, the major disparity is the fact that many members of nursing staff have access to addictive drugs through their places of employment.
Back Injury
According to the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), almost half of all healthcare employees will have one or more workplace-related back injury during the span of their careers. And more than half of all currently employed nurses have reported persistent back pain.
Physical Violence
Nurses, nursing assistants, and other types of direct healthcare workers have been the targets of violence at the workplace in recent years. Healthcare workers comprised 45 percent of non-fatal assaults that resulted in lost work days, based on a 2005 report from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The vast majority of assaults against nursing staff in the US take place in emergency departments and psychiatric hospitals, but workplace violence also occurs in other healthcare settings. Patients sometimes punch, kick, grope, grab and spit on their caregivers, whereas a few throw fecal matter and contaminated items at nursing staff.
Suicide
Nurses are at increased risk for suicide, partly as a result of the immensely stressful character of our work. The suicide rate for nurses is 0.11 deaths per 1000, which is greater than the 0.07 suicide rate for the rest of the general population.
Hepatitis C Virus
Nurses are at risk of contracting the hepatitis C virus from needle stick injuries and other types of blood exposure. At the present time it is the most common blood borne infection in the United States and affects an estimated four million people in its chronic form across the country. Hepatitis C infects nearly four times as many people in the US as HIV and is forecasted to kill more Americans than HIV by the year 2020.
Depression
Depression is a pervasive problem for nurses in this day and age. A 2012 report subsidized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) unearthed a finding that 18 percent of nurses are depressed, which is about twice the rate of the general public.
