The Effects Of Addiction On The Field Of Nursing - 1860 Words

A Review of Addiction in the Field of Nursing Background: In the field of nursing there is a culture of self-diagnosis, self-referral and self-treatment which have repercussions not only for their own health but also for the quality of healthcare that they provide for their patients. Factors in regards to addiction among nurses may be age, gender, family history of substance abuse and access to prescription drugs. Aims: To look at addiction in the healthcare industry, with emphasis on individuals in the nursing field Methods: The following databases were searched: JSTOR, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Inclusion criteria specified research assessing self-treatment and self-medicating of prescription drugs and street drugs among†¦show more content†¦Shaw PhD, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine/ Mark P. McGovern PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School/ Daniel H. Angres MD, Physician, Department of Psychiatry, Section of Addiction Medicine, Rush- Presbyterian- St. Luke’s Medical Center/ and Purva Rawal, MA, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern Medical School. Introduction In the United States addiction in the healthcare industry in a serious epidemic with a large number of its workers either addicted or abusing drugs and alcohol on a regular basis, in this review paper I will focus specifically on members of the nursing profession and nursing students. According to t he ADA 1984, AMA 1987, AphA 1982, and ANA 1984 ( Kenna et, al.2004) drug and alcohol abuse and addiction is recognized as a serious threat against public safety due to the fact that not only does substance abuse impair the nurses ability to do their job to the best of their ability it also puts their patients at risk for receiving inadequate and sloppy care. One of the major hurdles in receiving treatment for many nurses and others in the healthcare field in that our society has been conditioned to view addicts as villains or as morally less then (Dunn 2005). Who Conducted the Research? The research done by Shaw et.al, was conducted by Graduate level research