Substance Abuse Is An Ever Growing Problem - 1510 Words

Why has substance abuse in the field of nursing been on the rise for the past 100 years? Could it be because of the high levels of stress along with the incredible toll working in the field of nursing takes on the body? Several different reasoning’s have been brought forth throughout the years, but nothing changes the fact that this is an increasing problem that has to be dealt with within the profession. â€Å"Addiction among nurses has been recognized by professionals in the field for over 100 years, and current estimates place rates of substance misuse, abuse, and abdication as high as 20% among practicing nurses† (Monroe et al., 2011, p. 504). This is alarming because nurses are in a position where they cannot afford to be mentally or†¦show more content†¦What one person may say regarding the issue may vary from the next. When discussing the topic of substance abuse among nurses the severity of the action might differ when mentioning the problem to nurse m anager or charge nurse. Views on substance abuse may also change when discussing the topic with a fellow nurses as well as patients. The roles of the nurse managers and charge nurses are to insure competence as well as the functionality of the nurses that are under their supervision. In looking at this topic from the perspective of a nurse manager or a charge nurse it may seem like the nurses is putting both their patients and the hospital at risk so their first action may be to address the problem.† The impact of workplace substance abuse includes increased workplace accidents and injuries and increased use of health benefits, workers compensation, and disability claims† (Epstein et. al., 2010, p. 515). There may be an underlying reason to why this nurse has chosen to go down this destructive path and it may also be the nurse manager or charge duty to address this problem. Substance abusing nurses are hazardous to have in the work place and removed from the floor and se nding that the nurse to get some needed help may be the duty of that charge nurse or nurse manager, because the nurse may not be willing to listen to fellow floor nurses. From the perspective of fellow nurses, they may not want