I recently attended a seminar about the prevelance of drug and alcohol abuse among nurses.
the speaker (a recovering alcholic drug abusing nurse manager, currently clean and sober psych case manager) indicated something like 35% of all nurses are chemically dependent, he believes the phenominally high rate of nurse abusers is related to the fact that everyone who chooses nursing is codependent, he went on to say something like 90+% of nurses have an immediate family member who is chemically dependent (doesnt most the population) that contributed to our codependency and our eventual chemical addiction.
What do you think? what is your definition of codependency? what do you think about being labeled as codependent? why did you choose nursing - was it to help people and be appreciated? do you think all healthcare workers are codependent? what is your definition of an alcoholic? what is your definition of a drug abuser? how much faith do you have in his statistics on chemically dependent nurses?
I am a recovering addict who was a Certified Emergency Room Nurse. I am the real co-dependent. I think I wanted to be Nurse so I could be somebody and maybe help someone with their pain since I couldn't seem to help myself with my own.
I have 4 years clean now and remember the day I walked into AA. The only difference between those people and me is they were smiling. I go today so maybe I can give someone the hope I was given. The hope and love for myself I never thought possible. The Board is giving my license back. Life is different today. Today I will nurse because I care about people and have a lot to give.
My need to abuse drugs was to medicate the discomfort I had in my own skin. No one can believe I had such a poor self image. I was a good actor. I could go on, nuff said.
Nurses are also exposed to drugs at their disposal, a temptation some can't overcome. It has to start somewhere, but the simple fact that a nurse has exposure to narcotics everyday makes it part of the problem. Doctors too, are in this category and have extremely high rates of abuse. It's not just nurses.
I believe there's a large percentage of medical professionals that are chemically dependent. We have high-stress positions, we're understaffed, and we deal with life and death situations daily. I think there should be more seminars and treatment programs for persons in the medical field. I don't know about the co-dependency thing?
Thanks Jerrie for speaking up and being so honest. Congratulations on four years clean and sober!! Keep up the good work....
If you include caffeine, it probably IS true that 35% of us are chemically dependent. If you include chocolate, it may be WAY higher.
Co-dependence, of course, is one of those subjective terms like "needy," where everyone gets to have his/her own definition. A word, like "love," with no clear denotation, but abundant connotations. By my definition, for example, most nurses I have dealt with are more than a little co-dependent. They don't take care of themselves well enough and over-extend themselves serving the neuroses of other people. IMHO. Other people use different definitions.
And you can't very well expect a seminar speaker such as you describe MINIMIZING any such categories. "Chemical dependence and co-dependence are to be found in very few health care providers, so I guess you shouldn't be paying me to stand up here and talk about it." Oops.
"Don't you reach for the honey, without smokin' the hive," Pebbles.
I quote from the original post..."35% of all nurses are chemically dependent."
Caffeine and chocolate aren't or don't contain chemicals on which people can become dependent? I beg to differ (though my original comment was intended as light-hearted), as does every pharmacologist in the land.
In response to Biscuit_007: addiction is a disease process not a character flaw or "weakness". It has been recognized as a disease since 1956 by the AMA and 1960 by the APA.
I believe nursing is in line with the general population.
JERRIE
4 Posts
I am a recovering addict who was a Certified Emergency Room Nurse. I am the real co-dependent. I think I wanted to be Nurse so I could be somebody and maybe help someone with their pain since I couldn't seem to help myself with my own.
I have 4 years clean now and remember the day I walked into AA. The only difference between those people and me is they were smiling. I go today so maybe I can give someone the hope I was given. The hope and love for myself I never thought possible. The Board is giving my license back. Life is different today. Today I will nurse because I care about people and have a lot to give.
My need to abuse drugs was to medicate the discomfort I had in my own skin. No one can believe I had such a poor self image. I was a good actor. I could go on, nuff said.