Alcohol and drug abuse is higher in the health care profession than in the general public (estimates indicating that it may be anywhere from 30 to 300 times higher) with one in seven nurses considered at-risk for substance abuse and between 40,000 and 75,000 nurses currently impaired by abuse/addiction problems. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of nurses impaired by substance abuse problems and to examine actions (both actions involving the workplace and actions involving the court) that are being taken to either prevent or correct the problem once it has occurred.
Wheeler has called the problem of impaired nurses due to substance abuse one that affects the entire profession and one that is associated with high health care costs--this in terms of both the costs necessary to help the nurse through recovery and the costs associated with any damage she might due as a result of her impaired performance. Some authors have theorized that the major contributors to the problem of substance abuse among nurses are occupational or job-related stress and positive attitudes toward drug use.
However, in a study designed to examine whether occupational stress levels and positive drug attitudes were associated with differences in a wide variety of drug usage, usage (with the exception of one over-the-counter medication) did not differ as a function of either occupational stress or attitudinal differences. Despite the foregoing, it does need to be pointed out that it is possible that differences were not found because sample subjects were student nurses and the effects of occupational stress and/or positive attitudes toward drugs and drug-taking may not manifest fully (in terms of their impact upon alcohol/drug usage) until the nurse has spent a measure of time working as a professional.
Misiaszek has stated that the single greatest factor involved with nurses who engage in substance abuse is the issue of co-dependency....