Anybody work with addicted population?

Nurses General Nursing

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HI Everybody,

I'm a newbie, and very much enjoyed working at an addiction center during clinicals in nursing school. Does anybody work in this field? If so, please tell me what the issues are. Is it frustrating for you when the same person returns to detox over and over, or do you accept it? Is there a high burn out rate? If anybody has a moment, I would appreciate knowing.

Thanks,

Diahni

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I think every nurse deals with this population subset! I don't specialize, but it's hard to avoid dealing with this type of patient if one works in a hospital setting!

I work in a detox facility and I love it. I've been doing it for less than a year so I can't address the burn-out issue, but I suspect that it's no worse than any other field of nursing. I'm emotionally tired a lot of nights when my shift ends as opposed to physically tired. It's frustrating at times but intensely rewarding. I remember thinking in school that "therapeutic communication" was the biggest bunch of nonsense that I'd ever heard, but let me tell you, I use it every day on my job and it is a very powerful tool. Yes, we get tired, disgusted, irritable when we see the same folks coming back time after time, but I think the most overwhelming emotion for me is pity. And I strive to be respectful and treat everyone with a caring and compassionate attitude no matter what I say about them inside our box (our nurses station). You just never know when you will do or say something that WILL finally make a difference. It may never happen but you must keep trying. Every human life has worth.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Two years ago, I worked on PRN status as a medication nurse at a small community psychiatric hospital on their chemical dependency unit. In other words, I dealt with mostly alcoholics, illicit substance abusers, and prescription pill addicts. I never felt burned out because this population of patients tends to be very interesting, charismatic, dramatic, and manipulative. There is never a dull moment when you work with chemically dependent persons.

I felt no frustration when the same people returned over and over again, since I was able to maintain a professional distance. To be rather frank, I'd probably feel frustrated or peeved if only a close family member or friend of mine continually relapsed and kept returning to an addiction center. If a perfect stranger keeps returning, why should I feel upset when I don't have an emotional attachment to this person?

Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

I worked in a treatment facility for about a year a while back. I left because of the constant re-admissions "frequent flyers". This shouldn't have been an issue, but I think that because of my own recovery, I didn't understand why they "just didin't get it". I'm much happier in hospice.

I think it just depends on your personality. After several years of working in ICU, I went PRN, and decided I wanted a complete break.

So I started picking up shifts in our Psych Unit, which is mostly addicts of one kind or another.

I lasted about 6 months, before I decided it wasn't for me. And went back to ICU - happily.

I understand addiction - I come from a large family of alcoholics. I guess I just don't have any patience for it. It seemed to me like that unit was co-dependent to the max. I remember one fella, an alcoholic, who was admitted 3 times in the same week, and I had to admit him each time. He would come in and sleep and eat for a night or so, then check out, go across the street to the store, load up on booze, get drunked out of his mind - then come back in. And then repeat it all again. And they'd just keep admitting him!

We ended up with him later in the ICU after he got in an accident, driving drunk.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I worked with them as a tech. They are a strange lot; very demanding, but interesting. I'd like to get back to it as a nurse at a later date.

I don't work in a specific unit for addicts but we have lots of them anyway.

I have lots of substance abusers in my family so maybe this affects it but I don't have much patience for them.

I am far more irritated at the narcotic abusers than the alcoholics though. Narcotic abusers seem to have far poorer boundaries, be more messed up, more narcissistic, more irritating and more self important in general. They also seem to be less insightful into their illness. Alcoholics seemed to generally be depressed, withdrawn, and working on a slow suicide.

Obviously this is just my observation from my own work experience. I don't think I could work on a specific "addiction" unit since it would just burn me out. I prefer to focus on the medical issues of patients. Kudos to the nurses that enjoy the addiction aspect though, I couldn't do it.

Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

I am in recovery and the fact that the pts keep coming back tells me they don't want to be that way they want to change and sooner or later they will. They will hear something that eventually will click and then they get it.

My hubby went to treatment 21 times and lots of folks gave up on him. He has 12 yrs of continuious clean time now He said the last time he was in one of the counsellors said something about his family and he stopped. You never know what it is that makes them stop. For me it was that I never had to be lonely again.

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