Prepare yourselves, the drug addict on Dr. Phil is a nurse.

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Now I am not going to make a negative or positive comment at this point because I have not seen the show. I only know three things at this point. One is that the promo they are running specifically says the woman is a nurse. Two is that yes, chemical abuse among health care workers is a real and growing problem. Three is that up until now Dr. Phil has been shall we say "unsupportive" of nurses.

Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
I knew the nurse that beats on her husband, only by working with her.....I would certainly hope that the state has good enough sense to revoke her license and not issue a Rn license.

Now you know.

Did you report her?

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Our local news station is advertising a special at the 10pm slot on Nurses who are addicted to drugs. I don't find this very reassuring to be saying this since most people out there will believe anything they hear on the news. I know there are some Nurse's who do become addicted or were addicted before they started. That doesn't seem fair to pool us all into that group though. I'm not sure what day it's coming on but will let you know what is said. To anyone in the Louisisana southcentral viewing area it's WDSU news.

Sandy

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
I know there are some Nurse's who do become addicted or were addicted before they started. That doesn't seem fair to pool us all into that group though.

How on earth does this "pool us all into that group" Are you an addict? I know I'm not.

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
My hope is that my peers will not judge me on who I was, but rather on who I am and what I can become.

I will never judge you or anyone else for any reason and congratulations on overcoming something that I can not even begin to imagine.

The point I was trying to make in my original post is that addiction happens, but some of the replies I was reading in this thread made it sound like because one is a nurse then it reflects badly on the entire group and was "bad" for the image of nursing.

What a gross generalization!

I wonder how many alcoholic nurses there are out there. I know I worked with at least two - probably more. I probably work with someone addicted to drugs as well.

Why is addiction so shameful? Addicts need help, not a wagging finger pointed in their face.

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All I have to say is..after all the grief he got after the last "anti" nurse segment he ran...the knowledge of the bad image nursing already has...first HAND knowledge since his sisters are nurses........you'd THINK he would have re thought it before filling the guest spot with a drug addict nurse. Like there isn't any other drug addict available from a different field not soo much in the public spotlight already.

Z

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I find it ironic that these shows aired just after nurses week/day and right in the middle of May sweeps. Are we the new targets??? Got enough on bad cops with excessive force, stealing or falsifying evidence, stealing or working the drug deals to benefit themselves. And we can't say anything negative about a fireman since 9/11 (not that I want to) or the underpaid teacher!!! Just on observation.

I agree that the state of PA needs to yank the wife's license. I was wondering while watching that program how she manages her stress and anger at work and if she worked in LTC. After seeing that program, and after having worked nearly 20 years in LTC myself, I am willing to bet the majority of my vital organs that she has struck a patient at some point in time. Not to mention the verbal abuse and possible emotional abuse. If she "blanks out" when she's pissed and doesn't remember kicking him repeatedly and walking on his abdomen (and she ain't no petite thing either!!!) how could she possibly remember striking a patient. There is a dead fish in there somewhere!!!!

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.

I watched both shows. I think he did a better job with the 2nd show. He didn't go on and on about how she was a nurse. He portrayed it like he would if she were in any profession. I did find it incredible that she was a drug rehab nurse. Basically she was addicted to medication, it didn't matter what she did for a living.

The problem I had with the 1st show, the husband-beater, is that he seemed so amazed that, as a nurse, she could do that. I think the old standard of nurses being angels in white, holier than thou, is still with us to an extent. I just don't know how to explain it. It's not that I think he's portraying nurses in a negative light, I think he's perpetuating the perception that nurses should be perfect. We should "know" better. If we do wrong, it's 10 times worse than if anybody else does wrong. Even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with a patient, or nursing skills.

Think back to good ole Florence. Her nurses were hand picked. Single, middle-aged, modest and homely. Actual skills didn't matter that much, as long as they did what she told them. (Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of what she did in her lifetime) Untouchable. Closely monitored when they weren't on duty. Any little deviation from perfect morals meant being canned.

My preceptor at my first job was a diploma graduate from the hospital we worked at. She told me about the strict rules that had to be followed by the students. No dating, in at 9pm every night, no marriage until after graduation. They had to uphold a pure image.

The "nurse" who beat her husband was nothing more that a WOMAN who had anger issues, and criminally abused her husband. Being a nurse had nothing to do with it. What about her husband? I never heard Phil say "But you're a _____, you should know better than to drink youself into a stupor!" Everybody with an IQ over 20 knows beating people and drinking till you're passed out is not a good idea!

We're nurses, we're human, we're fallible, we make mistakes...just like anybody else. If she had abused her patients, that's a different story, then go on and on about how she's a nurse, she's supposed to help people, not hurt them.

Sorry for the rant!

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How on earth does this "pool us all into that group" Are you an addict? I know I'm not.

As I stated in my post, most people will believe everything they hear on the news, meaning it may cause them to believe all nurses are the same. Sorry you didn't understand my post. And no I'm not an addict and didn't imply that you or anyone else was. I simply stated a fact, that there are some nurses that are.

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I didn't see the husband beater show...but did watch the addiction show..I didn't see it as a BAD NURSES show...just an honest portrait of ANY addict and the trials and tribulations some go through...guess I'm a minority..I like Dr.Phil's "In your face" approach...havinng been through addiction with family members it's what works..candy-coating,sparing feelings,saying what they WANT to hear doesn't work in my personal experience . Others may not agree, and that's ok *peace*

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
Sorry you didn't understand my post.

I must not understand what you're trying to say because I got the same thing from the clarification as I did from the original statement.

Oh well.

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I feel I should respond to the posts I've read thus far on this topic. I am a recovering opiate addict and, yes folks, a nurse. But I no longer label myself with anything...I am just me. I have over 3 years clean and sober, but not before losing literally everything to my addiction, including my RN license. Should nurses know better? Probably. But as has been stated, addiction does not discriminate and that demon could care less what you do for a living or how 'smart' you are. I graduated at the top of my class and became a lick-the-floor sick junkie. Now, however, after an IMMENSE amount of work, therapy, faith and quite simply, a will to live, I will be having my license reinstated in July and I am thrilled. My plans are to work in chemical dependency as I know all too well the horrors of this disease. My hope is that my peers will not judge me on who I was, but rather on who I am and what I can become.

You've done an amazing thing.

The image doesn't limit itself to just nurses though - all medicine gets hit with the "they should know better" judgment.

Just last night at a dinner party, I overhead some of the guys talking about driving up to the hospital I work at and seeing so many "nurses" or medical staff outside smoking. "Don't they know better seeing so many people die from respiratory diseases?". Of course they are incredulous . ..

What bothers me is EVERYONE, ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE knows smoking is bad for you. It isn't like the rest of the public is in the dark about what cigarettes do.

Why doesn't old regular Joe just quit? Surely he has seen those commercials on tv where the woman smokes through her trach or they've seen grandpa die of COPD or Auntie got lung cancer?

Holding someone up to a higher standard simply because they work in medicine is completely unfair. Addiction strikes at all levels.

And I don't smoke and never have and hate it . . .

steph

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She's a nurse in a drug-rehab clinic, it seems. If that makes any difference at all, not sure it should.

I really can't stand to watch dr phil and his arrogant grandstanding any more. How is he any kind of "therapist" by berating the addicted person and her husband like this...? He's just like those "judge/court" type tv shows where people watch because they LIKE to see the authority figure telling off the "bad" person....

I especially didn't like where he told the husband that his wife had said she regretted getting married and having kids. That is so out of line.

Anyway, turning it off now to go watch the CSI and ER finales I taped last night while I was at work...... Quality TV!

One of my patients had him on one morning while I was getting her ready for her physical therapy sessions.

The guy doesn't shut up. Oh, how I wished for ear plugs that morning.

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