chemical dependency/addictions nursing

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

I would love to hear from nurses that work in chemical dependency/addictions treatment centers. I am considering this field . I have been an LPN for 18 years and will graduate RN school in December. Love it? Stressful? Hate it? Any info appreciated.:nurse:

Congradulations, I'm glad you like it. It IS the best job I've had in 10 years of nursing, the unfortunate part is I can't afford to purchase a home in this area because the wages are too low. So I gotta go somewhere else. I'd love to stay in the field.

What state are you in?

Joe3

I am in Illinois, and yes the wages are lower, our place shy's away from hiring full time staff and those that are f/t get salary. there's no holiday pay, no p/t benefits etc. but the environment for an lpn/student is perfect. I am going to leave after I get my RN license to go to a hospital, I have always wanted to work NICU but I am soooo glad that I have the experience I have in CD and absolutely think I will return to the field one day. I think the majority of the people I work with have dual incomes with the other person making equal or greater to what we make so they can live comfortably.

I am chemically dependent and in recovery. The rehab that I went to had many nurses in recovery. In fact most of the staff were in recovery or were a family member of a chemically dependent person. If you are chemically dependent and want to work in this field, I would advise you to look in the 28 day rehabs for a job. I know of two renowned rehabs in this country who look to hire chemically depenmdent people.

In my experience as a patient, the nurses who helped me the most were the ones who shared that they were in recovery. I was detoxing from Percoset given to me after surgery. There was a male nurse who had been addicted to the same type of medication. I was very ill, and he kept telling me how he recovered. It gave me so much hope, and it was comforting to see where he was in recovery today.

When I am ready, I hope to work at the rehab that started me on my way to recovery.

Krisssy RN

We welcome recovering nurses to work with us!! In fact, we have some still in the nurse recovery program. They make wonderful employees, as you have noticed!!

Specializes in med-surg/ telemetry/PEDS.

I am not a recovering addict, just a nurse interested in field. I like the idea of giving support and tools for people struggling with addictions. I do have a brother who is an alcoholic.

I work in an Australian alcohol and prescription drug addiction detox and rehab unit. The psychologists in the unit run groups several times a day based on CBT. These are excellant and we have a good success rate % as well as getting our Regulars. I really love the job and the work. previously I worked with heroin, speed, hash and alcohol addicts in the public system it is very rewarding work I find. I feel I have really found my niche in nursing after trying just about all other areas as an RN. All areas of nursing are rewarding in their own way, but this is my passion, love every shift. :) :)

i am a rn working in a drug-free, outpatient cd program for the past 10 months. so, i do not give medications. i do the nurse part of the intake process, run groups and i even help the counselors when their caseload is too big by having 2 or 3 clients of my own (for individual counseling, i mean). i really like to help the clients and when i do, it makes my day. but sometimes i feel i do not do enough because i never had a drug/alcohol problem or a family member to relate with. it makes me so insecure. sometimes i feel like giving up and find an "easy money job" like someone posted before. i will start the casac courses today to see if it helps me. any word of encouragement, please...

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