Chemical dependency in nursing

[aflahe00]

When I was in nursing school there wasn't any education what so ever about the high percentages of chemical dependency in nursing. After working as an RN for over 5 years, I only recently even knew that each state has a nurses assistance program for nurses struggling with addiction. There's just no education at all going on here. Hospitals would rather pretend it doesn't exist than educate their staff about drug diversion and what nurses can do if they need help. I had no

idea how to get help until after I was confronted about diverting, forcing me into self reporting or else face harsher consequences. It's not right. Why is there no education about this when 1 out of ten nurses is said to be struggling with addiction?

[elkpark]

That is fantastic to hear! The whole point of these programs is to stop a problem BEFORE anyone gets injured. I mean, in any other setting, you come to work impaired you lose your job. You make a mistake...you lose your job or face some sort of discipline. In the healthcare setting though, there is no room for an error that could prove to be fatal. So, along those lines of thinking the idea is to address a problem BEFORE a mistake is made. Would it not follow then, that employees (nurses) need to be aware that help is available to begin with? I too was not aware of the program until being mandated to comply with it. 4 years of nursing school, and 5 years of practice and not so much as a whisper.

Every employer I've worked for over the last few decades has included in the initial employee orientation a review of the EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and the services it offered, including assistance with mental health or substance abuse problems. I find it a little disingenuous to suggest that any licensed nurse sincerely doesn't know where to start in looking for assistance. I can understand being unwilling to use the employer-provided assistance -- but that's different from not knowing where you might be able to get help.