Do we need to take drugs.. in order to do our job?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

.... are snuggl'in a big old bottle of Jack (or wine for you really ridiculous types) ....

I enjoy wine; does that make me ridiculous? Sorry, missed the connection.

I also sometimes enjoy a cocktail when I get home from work, sometimes before dinner, sometimes after. Sometimes not at all, but then, that's all about preference, isn't it? Doesn't make me a lush, just makes me someone who has found an adult enjoyment to "cap off" the day.

I'd hate to think that would equate me with someone who was wrecking her family.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

Benzos arr not illegal but if taken as directed of course you can take them at work.

..

No, Mar2..even a prescribed legal drug can cause many problems. With your state BON and your facility.

Benzos can affect your judgement.. the very thing we rely on to manage our patients.

If a judgement error is called.. and you test positive.. it will open Pandora's box.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

Do we need to take drugs in order to do our jobs? Yes. Most people use legal non-prescription drugs such as caffeine Tylenol, and Motrin to deal with the crap they have to deal with. Others need more help than that. I feel like I am getting to the point where I may need something to cope with all of this. I'm not a nurse yet, but my job is pretty damn stressful, and it's going to be more of the same crap as a nurse.[/quote']
You betcha I need caffeine and motrin.. these are NOT prescribed medications that can impair judgement.
You are not a nurse yet? And you already anticipate the need to medicate against the stress of nursing? This is why I posted the question.
It is in support of ... that the stressors in the field ..sometimes make us medicate ourselves.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

I don't even know how to respond. The horrible things I am hearing have left me speachless. The fact that nurses are judging each other because some need help is INSANE. I cannot believe that nurses keep the stimga that the general pop. keeps. These comments are the same reasons people do not get the help they need, be it therapy, medication, etc. Telling someone to just get over it is the most absurd thing I have heard in awhile. SERIOUSLY. :icon_roll

This post is not meant as a forum to judge nurses that feel the need to medicate themselves in order to perform. It is a STATEMENT against the deplorable working conditions that drive some of us to need medication.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 4, 2012

I love it that the genie is finally out of the bottle on this one......we HAVE to talk about it now. We can no longer pretend that prolonged high-pressure conditions aren't harmful to our health, whether physical or mental. Thanks to the OP for bringing up this topic! :yelclap:

inthedistrict · Mar 4, 2012

One last thing: For those scoffing at mentally ill nurses working (and for the mentally ill ones in the trenches!), I recommend you read "A First Rate Madness." The author posits that in times of calm, the best leaders are the sane ones. In times of crisis, though (and what is nursing, if not crisis!)? You want the mentally ill. Lincoln is the perfect example. Awful depressive (another great book: "Lincoln's Melancholy."). Indeed, there has been a lot of speculation that Florence Nightingale herself was bipolar. If nothing else, she had some fantastically productive times, and some fantastically low ones.

I'd argue that well-controlled mentally ill nurses make GREAT nurses. Mental illness does not equal instant sainthood, but, if you're lucky, it makes you sensitive, creative, compassionate, and, yes, tough. A very wise friend of mine once said that people can only walk with you to where they have been, meaning that if they've never been truly down, out, and broken, they just can't go with you to the darkest, most broken places.

RiverNurse · Mar 4, 2012

This is exactly why I have turned in my resignation at work. I am burned out by this urgency, spurned by the sense of entitlement and convenience by the medical establishment, physicians, insurance, administrations and patients that ignore the reality of priority, time constraints and capacity.

I'm getting ready to slow down... way down. This is why, seriously, I could easily live in a yurt and do some urban homesteading. I'd love to be an "old hag" eventually, spinning yarns about the past and working with herbs to promote the body, mind and spirit to do its own healing, in its own time.

I have not been able to reconcile the way allopathic medicine works versus the intuitive sense of healing that I thought was nursing. Reframing, different perspectives, chanting... meditation... walking in the woods... having an ice cream cone... all different methods to work on our interior selves and for me, largely ignored as I can't seem to drag myself out of bed except to go to work - and this is even with meds on board. Something has been very, very wrong with this picture - and I realized after an injury on the floor - and was still required to do direct patient care even though I was considered to be on "light duty" - I realized it was time to leave. Indeed, I am "entitled" to do better - to expect a better form of respect - and to expect better from myself.

Rivernurse

vegas2009 · Mar 4, 2012

Nope. However, I definitely agree that we should eat a balanced diet to do our jobs (any kind). For example, I just fixed my slight computer problem (which I created earlier, since I was distracted watching TV). It was driving me nuts, because I couldn't remember what I pressed and so forth. I was also in a conversation with my brother, so I don't know where my head was I just had a yogurt just now and it's a miracle. The stuff that I randomly read (yes, I was distracted again, while reading them) actually helped. My computer problem was simple to fix. All I had to do was to press a key and look at my screen! I swear YOGURT really helps. If that important key was a snake, it would've bitten me and I would've been in ER by now -- EEEWW.

elprup, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

Nursing is so dysfunctional....wish I knew this before I went back to school. All nurses has over 500,000 members, I would think we could make great changes in our profession, because it is truly time.

dishes, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

I agree that psych medications are needed to treat diagnosed psychiatric disorders and nurses who have been diagnosed, should not feel judged by their colleagues for taking medication to treat their mental illness. In their cases, the medications are necessary to keep their brain chemisitry in balance.

I disagree with nurses taking anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medications to cope with emotions that are the result of poor working conditions. In these cases, it is the employers behavior that needs to be addressed, not the nurse`s brain chemistry. Instead of taking a pill, I believe these nurses need to know what they can and cannot change about their workplace. Nurses need to understand employers are accountable to labor laws and to patient safety, it is not just the nurses responsibility.

Epic_RN · Mar 4, 2012

This topic really hits home for me. My family has a history of severe, disabling, clinical depression. All of the females on my mom's side have had it and have had to be hospitalized at some point for it, including me. It hit me at age 18 and I have battled for 14 years to get to a point where I am on no meds at all. My oldest daughter, age 13, is on an antidepressant, goes to a therapist, and sees a psychiatrist. She attempted suicide last year and has disabling anxiety. Should I have told her to just "put on her big girl panties" and to "toughen up" when she was trying to find something sharp to slice open her wrists?? Right, because that would have helped.

If you have not had severe, clinical depression -- do not judge those of us who have had it and have sought treatment for it. There but for the grace of God go you.

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

My oldest daughter, age 13, is on an antidepressant, goes to a therapist, and sees a psychiatrist. She attempted suicide last year and has disabling anxiety. Should I have told her to just "put on her big girl panties" and to "toughen up" when she was trying to find something sharp to slice open her wrists?? Right, because that would have helped.
If you have not had severe, clinical depression -- do not judge those of us who have had it and have sought treatment for it. There but for the grace of God go you.

Oh, give me a break. As the poster who used the term "put on your big girl panties", I made it quite clear I was not talking about this kind of condition. I fully recognized that there are those that have disabling diseases that require the use of medication. Your situation (and many others) are very tragic and I hope to be lucky enough never to have to encounter this. I do hope you have found the help your daughter needs.

My point was there are also many people I have known thru the years that have absolutely no idea how to cope with everyday situations and the highs and lows of life that everyone of us experience. It would seem that people are only reading the words they want to read and not what was actually written. Being judgmental can go both ways.