Joankim, Your comment about choice reminded me of some things I hadn't thought of in a while. I was in a treatment program before I realized that I had a choice. It was a hard lesson. It can be very refreshing and enlightening to realize that there is a choice involved in life. A funny aside: There was a man in treatment with me who was at the time a successful businessman/alcoholic. He related a story about working in a meat packing plant and being told that he should eat his lunch next to a dead cow. He said it was an unpleasant experience. The counselor told him that he could have chosen to eat somewhere else. His eyes lit up and he said, "You mean I could have decided to eat my lunch somewhere else?!" In realizing "choice" he found his freedom. I know that was a weird story, but it is just to demonstrate that yes, we all find our way at different times and different ways. Be patient, some of us are slow learners.
I must agree too, that those of us who work with "using" nurses have an obligation to the patient, first and foremost. If that means reporting a co-worker, then so be it. Hopefully, that will be the first step to recovery. Nurses, like others, need to be given an chance to recover without such severe sanctions that they can no longer work in the profession. But, I must reiterate, protect the patient.
I think I have done quite a fine job of talking in circles, so I will quit for now.
