I see that this catagory has been slow moving lately and I wanted to start a new thread with a different direction. I would like to get everyone's opinion (even the people that have never suffered with addiction). What do you think about your state's peer assistance/recovery program? Do you think it is too harsh or not harsh enough? What state are you in, and do you know the rules or guidelines of your states recovering nurses program?
I just want to get a general view of nurses' education on the matter. I have noticed lately in my hospital that the nurses do not know that there is a recovery program out there. They don't know that there are options and many are scared to report someone, especially if it is their friend. They are scared to report themselves if they need help.
I know that there are more impaired nurses out there than any of us want to admit. I think that if we were educated more on the matter, we could get a better grasp on the situation.
I agree that most of these programs are so structured that you must really LOVE to be a nurse to go through them! I have said it so many times before and I will keep saying it!
I live in Florida also and am in IPN. I have been in IPN for 8 years now, relapsed 2 times, I now have less than 2 years left on this 3rd contract. Each contract is 5 years and if you relapse you start over with your time. The IPN program is not hard if you just follow the rules. More than half of the nurses in my group do not go to AA/NA meetings. (we do not have to have papers signed anymore, even when we did you could get anyone to sign them, it did not mean anything)
I did not really understand and "get" recovery until this last relaspe when I really started going to NA meetings, got a sponcer, started working the steps and working on me.
This time I got it. I have more than 3 years clean now. I am very thankful to God that I have another chance.
I look at some of the nurses in my "support" group I have to go to each week and know that they are not getting it. Recovery is life changing. You have to want it. My life is better. I am greatful.
Yes, yes, yes. HUMILITY comes so hard to some people, especially nurses who don't believe they have much in common with the other non-medical folks in NA and AA. But if they've accepted the humility part of recovery then they can accept why they HAVE to go to meetings.
Specializes in Med-Surg., Agency Nursing, LTC., MDS..
Yes, yes, yes. HUMILITY comes so hard to some people, especially nurses who don't believe they have much in common with the other non-medical folks in NA and AA. But if they've accepted the humility part of recovery then they can accept why they HAVE to go to meetings.
Arizona Here! Here is sunny Az it is called the CANDO Program-Chemically Addicted Nurses Diversion Option. I have no direct experience with it (I have to drop monthly UDS for BON and quarterly Evals for the BON for 2 years) I'll be done in March. from what I understand it is a 3 year commitiment and pay as you go ( meaning it is expensive) . I used to think they were harsh but after being sober ofr a while I realized they are just doing their job....remember their first concern or priority is not the nurse but the patient or public.
I used to think they were harsh but after being sober ofr a while I realized they are just doing their job....remember their first concern or priority is not the nurse but the patient or public.
Why don't you contact WSO and see about doing this????? I know working 12 hour shifts it gets hard for me to attend meetings so I do 'em online after I get home. One thought though is addiction is addiction no matter who you are or your employment or what your financial position is. I can go to my OA meeting and hear something I need and the same goes if I go to an AA meeting or NA meeting (not a drug or alcohol abuser but a food adddict)
If you are in recovery, most states' peer assistance programs make you do 90 meetings in 90 days, aa or na. You MUST start these when you start recovery, NOT after you're finished with your out patient treatment. That was a misconception that someone recently told me. I thought I'd share it with everyone here, in case someone needed to know.
I too am from MI and after my work intervention I entered the Health Professionals Recovery Program (HPRP). I had no idea about such a program but thank God for it. I think it should be a topic covered in nrs shcool. They tell you about stress and burn out but not how common addiction can be. This would not save someone from using because the brain is already wired, but a nurse would know that she is not 1 in a million.
Anyways, the hprp program is 3 years. I have to attend weekly group with others who are in hprp X2 years. The last year I will still be req to drop and send in all the forms from mtgs, case manager, etc. I do have a 6 month narc restriction as well.
The money spent on everything is overwhelming but I just remind myself that I don't have to do it, I would just have to find another career. I worked too hard in school to throw it all away after only 3 years of nursing. I would see that as giving up just because of a hurdle (a huge hurdle, but a hurdle).
I don't think I can really critisize (sp) any of the requirements because they are keeping me c&s and licensed. Of course it's easy to complain about and easy to get mad but in the end, it's saving my life. I am grateful for the random drops because without those I would have already been drinking. Narcs are my doc but after IOP I realized how alcohol has been a problem as well. I would be in the program to deal with my drug addiction and not alcohol. Silly, I know.
Thinking about this program still gets me feeling so lucky. Could you imagine not having such a thing? I am happy to meet with a group of health care pros every week and share the struggles and the triumphs. Na is great too but I get more from the caduceus meetings.
Just remember, and I know I've said it before many times, nurses in recovery are the best nurses,, I would rather have a recovering nurse take care of me than anyone else. The reasons are:
We KNOW the recovering nurse is sober, she has to do random UA's, a lot of them.
We KNOW that our recovering nurse wants to be a nurse reallly really bad or why else would she jump through these hoops of fire to keep her license? She could easily choose a different career and bypass all the stuff that comes with peer assistance.
We KNOW that our recovering nurse has hit rock bottom and she can handle 'it' when it hits the fan.
Specializes in Impaired Nurse Advocate, CRNA, ER,.
I see that this catagory has been slow moving lately and I wanted to start a new thread with a different direction. I would like to get everyone's opinion (even the people that have never suffered with addiction). What do you think about your state's peer assistance/recovery program? Do you think it is too harsh or not harsh enough? What state are you in, and do you know the rules or guidelines of your states recovering nurses program?
I just want to get a general view of nurses' education on the matter. I have noticed lately in my hospital that the nurses do not know that there is a recovery program out there. They don't know that there are options and many are scared to report someone, especially if it is their friend. They are scared to report themselves if they need help.
I know that there are more impaired nurses out there than any of us want to admit. I think that if we were educated more on the matter, we could get a better grasp on the situation.
When I attended nursing school back in the 70's (ancient, I know), no one discussed this issue. In fact, the only real education I received about substance abuse/addiction discussed the physical effects of the different substances with the main focus on ETOH. The actual DISEASE of addiction was never discussed...ever. Working in the ER, first as an orderly and then as an RN, my attitude was these people did this to themselves and if they loved their family they would stop, or at least get help!
My education in anesthesia didn't touch on the disease, it focused on how to manage the addict while under anesthesia and postoperatively. The fact that substance abuse and addiction are the number one health risk associated with the practice of anesthesia was never mentioned, even in passing! NEVER!
A little over 8 years after graduating from anesthesia training I found myself addicted to opioids (spondylolisthesis and an eventual spinal fusion AFTER my addiction was triggered). My disease progessed rapidly as a result of access to the most potent opioids in clinical use on the planet (fentanyl and sufentanil). I went from my first IM injection to IV injection to almost dead and an interrupted suicide attempt (my Angel story) in less than 6 months.
I entered treatment "voluntarily" after an accidental OD. At the time (October 1990), there were very few programs with a focus on the addicted health care professional. Since that time numerous programs have developed for those of us unlucky enough to have this disease and be healthcare pros. In general, these programs are longer and more intense than the "standard" 28 day program. Our intelligence, access, and comfort with administering these powerful medications to our patients make us an even tougher nut to crack than the "average" addict. Because of denial (in ourselves AND our colleagues) and professional co-dependence (our tendency to make excuses and/or cover-up for an impaired colleague), the disease is allowed to progress and flourish. This means by the time a nurse gets "caught" (instead of diagnosed) the disease will be even tougher to treat, and sustained recovery is less likely. Combined with insurance companies paying for less than appropriate treatment, employers who want to "eliminate" high risk employees, and our society's desire for "justice" rather than treatment, we have the settings for exactly what most of us have experienced...total mismanagement of a chronic, progressive, unnecessarily fatal disease that destroys families, our colleagues and profession, and society, before it finally destroys the addict who "doesn't get it".
Can you imagine the outrage that would occur if cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or any OTHER chronic disease were managed the way addiction is managed? What would happen if a nurse who was also a "brittle" diabetic was fired after an episode of hypoglycemia and everyone thought she was an alcoholic? Justifiable outrage! This DOESN'T happen because diabetes is seen as a "legitimate" disease that can be managed. Even if the nurse with difficult to manage diabetes does have an occasional "relapse" no one is calling for their dismissal because it's known and accepted that this can happen with diabetics. In fact, everyone jumps in to lend a hand, cover their work schedule, and generally do whatever they can to make "recovery" happen as quickly as possible.
The above response doesn't happen for the addicted nurse because there is an appalling lack of knowledge about addiction by a majority of the profession. Read the posts here and on other nursing sites and its clear many RECOVERING NURSES don't really understand the disease. They still believe they are evil people who should have known better. When a relapse happens because of inadequate treatment and inappropriate continuing care combined with poor monitoring services and a thorough return to work contract...the nurse says "I really screwed up. How could I let this happen?" Would they say that if they had cancer, received an inadequate course of chemotherapy, little or no follow-up, and didn't know the early signs that the cancer might be active again?
People say, "Well THAT would NEVER happen!" That's probably true. Why? Because of the appropriate education nurses receive about the "real disease" of cancer.
None of this will change until our profession begins looking at the DISEASE and the risks inherent in the profession. That won't happen until the educational system governing the establishment and certification of nursing programs faces the reality of this DISEASE and the totally inept manner in which it has been dealt with to this day. That change won't happen until recovering nurses begin to step out of the shadow of the stigma associated with the disease and begin to demand change at all levels of our profession. Once that happens (and it WILL happen), society will begin to change as well.
As Bernadette Higgins Roche, CRNA, EdD states in her book, "Substance Abuse Policies in Anesthesia";
Anesthesiologists and CRNAs must establish a culture of courage within the anesthesia community; advocating for a chemically impaired colleague requires tremendous courage and a strong commitment to integrity.
WE need to be the people who make that change happen in the nursing community.
That is one of the most intelligent posts on this topic that I have ever seen. You are an amazing writer and I wonder if you have considered doing a book? I have tried to find books for addicted nurses and come up completely empy-handed. I am grateful for all of the posts in this topic. It is wonderful to see all the different opinions. It seems as though most of us are grateful for the chance to keep doing what we love to do. With 17 years of nursing under my belt, I had no clue about addiction, recovery, or programs for nurses plagued by addiction until I was "caught". As an ER nurse, I am ashamed to say that I passed judgement many times on the addicts and alcoholics that I encountered. I have a year in IPN (FL) now and 4 to go. It has changed my life. I learned more in intensive outpatient therapy than all my years of school and continuing education. I wish there were more education for everyone in the healthcare field. There is alot of misunderstanding and confusion out there about addiction in healthcare professionals. Certainly anyone in a position of management needs to be informed and educated about the program in thier state so that when a potential hiree discloses their status, it wont scare them and when a current employee needs an intervention and a referral they will know how to go about it. I dont disclose my status to everyone I meet but I do try very hard to educate any chance I have. Opportunities present themselves often for us to educate our coworkers, our managers, interviewers, and the public. I think it is important for each of us to do just that, I consider it indirect amends to the coworkers, managers, and employers that were certainly harmed by my actions. Wow I have gone on long enough. Back to "listening" (reading : )
Specializes in Impaired Nurse Advocate, CRNA, ER,.
Thanks Bezany! I guarantee there are twice as many who think I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Write a book? Nah! My high school sophomore english teacher said he hopes I never try to make a living at writing because I'd starve to death. Anyone who has seen me knows I don't miss very many meals!
Magsulfate, BSN, RN
1,201 Posts
I agree that most of these programs are so structured that you must really LOVE to be a nurse to go through them! I have said it so many times before and I will keep saying it!