Nurses with Addiction

Nursing is one of the most focal pointful careers in health care. great hours of direct patient care take its toll emotion tout ensembley and physic every(prenominal)y. time the transaction is rewarding for most, the constant stress crowd out become a catalyst for altogether kinds of self damaging behaviors. The American Nurses Association estimates amidst ten and twenty percent of entertains will affront medicates within the piece of counterfeit at some point during his/her career (ANA, 2002). This percentage is similar to that of middle abusers within the general population. Due to the ease of access to narcotics on the job, it can be difficult to key a problem in the beforehand(predicate) stages.Only once the nurses activities fuck off been suspected overdue to medication shortage or job performance problems can preventive be made. Professionals with addiction not only risk harming themselves and their career, but throw their patients at an increased unnecessary risk of mal practice. Unfortunately in November 2009, quadruple nurses in a local hospital were found to be thieving Morphine, Fentanyl, Dilaudid, and new(prenominal) narcotics during their shifts. All four nurses had been employed in various departments and were direct independently of each other.Each nurse was apprehended afterward world observed for strange behaviors and unauthorized Pixus medication station discrepancies. According to Dunn, psychiatric and oncology nurses have the highest likelihood for medicate abuse due to the constant stress and emotional pressures associated with their careers (Dunn, 2005). The lowest instance of abuse occurs in Womens health and Pediatric nursing (NIH, 2003). It is unclear whether this rate is due to the nurses coping capabilities in such areas, or the lack of narcotics avail sufficient on these types of care units.Aside from disobeying the loyalty of the employment, these nurses have violated the Nursing ensnare of morality in relation to themselves, the hospital, and the patients. Within the Nursing Code of Ethics (ANA, 2001) nurses vow to Safeguard the client and the public when health care and preventive are affected by the incompetent, unethical or illegal practice of any person. Participate in the professions effort to establish and maintain conditions of employ conducive to high quality nursing care. Maintain primary attention for the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community Fortunately, there have been no reports thus furthermost of malpractice or injuries with any of the patients under the direct care of these four individuals. heavy(a) circumstances whitethorn have occurred if the situation had not been discovered promptly. When well(p) issues occur, Risk Management mustiness work feverishly to investigate all the patients records to determine if any errors occurred regarding their care. Risk Management similarly has the responsibility of investigating the claims against the nurses to prove or disprove validity.Only after the investigations are concluded can the Risk Management team work to repair the reputation of the hospital and its employees. As a result of this incident, piece of work respect, reputation, and morality have been violated at the expense of drug addiction. Nurses and other healthcare professionals have a responsibility to the patients and the workplace to uphold a standard of care that will not gage the position of the hospital, its staff, the patients or the community. When serious issues occur, patients become judgmental of all providers and institutions.The profession and the organizations reputation have suffered because of this incident. Being a healthcare provider myself, I do not understand how a nurse could not find any other coping mechanisms besides drug abuse. Although I am not a nurse, I deal with the same(p) daily issues associated with direct patient care. As a professional, you are require to deal with situatio ns outside of your beliefs and find avenues to vent your frustration, grief and stress without harming the patients, yourself, or the relationship between the two. I have not come across any colleagues that take a different ethical viewpoint than me regarding this situation.We all know that stealing medications from patients for personal use is wrong professional ly, in person and legally. Perhaps our lack of understanding is due to the inability to relate to those with drug addiction. All coworkers within an organization need to be educated to recognize potential issues of narcotic abuse within the workplace. Since healthcare professionals are able to hide some signs of abuse such as work absences, it may be more difficult to recognize a problem in the early stages. Some physical signs to be aware of include irritability, forgetfulness, isolation, and fall levels of motivation.Issues in personal heart may also increase the chances of drug abuse, such as stress, family problems, a previous history of mental illness, and a history of prior abuse (any type). Potential issues must be describe to the Nurse Manager as soon as possible. In order for the organization to protect the pencil eraser of its personnel and patients, ethical standards of practice must been routinely stressed within the workplace. Many institutions conduct annual competencies, in-services, and /or reviews to ensure employee commitment to maintaining and promoting an ethical work environment. Conclusion dose abuse among workers will occur in any organization despite all efforts taken by coworkers, management and the organization as a whole. Drug abuse becomes a severe ethical issue once the life of another human being is jeopardized. Those in the healthcare field have a responsibility to maintain a standard of care to patients no matter of any personal issues occurring in his/her own life. When drug abuse occurs in a hospital setting, the potential for disaster increases dramatically. No t only is the safety of patients and coworkers compromised, so is the reputation of the hospital and the profession.All healthcare employees must be monitored by their employer to ensure workplace drug abuse is prevented, detected and extinguish before irreversible damage occurs. References American Nurses Association (2001). Code of ethics for nurses. Retrieved from http//www. nursingworld. org/about/01action. htm. on December 11,2009. Dunn, D. (2005). Substance abuse among Nurses-defining the issue. Association of operational room nurses. (82) 592-596. Retrieved from Proquest December 10, 2009. National Institute of Health (2003). Retrieved from www. drugabuse. gov/infofacts/costs. html on December 10, 2009.