Leadership and Managements Role in Substance Abuse Among Nurses Karen is a nurse in her sixties that has worked at the long-term care facility on the dementia unit for the past 30 years. She is quiet, reserved and well respected by her coworkers. Amber recently started working at the care facility on the day shift with Karen on the dementia unit. Shortly after Amber began working at the facility, management noticed counts were incorrect for narcotics and Ativan. Shirley, the manager, quickly focuses her attention on Amber the new employee.
The manager began to write Amber up for small infractions such as neglecting to obtain a weight on a patient during her weekly bath. Shirley begins to conduct the narcotic counts with Amber. Shirley reiterates …show more content…
The impaired nurse poses a threat to the safety of themselves and the patients they provide direct care. It is essential that nurse manages to play a critical role in the detection, investigation, and intervention of nurses with substance use disorders. Leaders and managers have an ethical responsibility for reporting and removing the impaired nurse from direct patient care duties. Healthcare organizations that handle controlled substances must have policies and procedures for the handling, disposal, and storage of controlled substances. Had Shirley the manager in the scenario been educated on warning signs of substance abuse, ethical responsibilities during the investigation and learned to dispel the myth that substance abuse can affect anyone, she may not have missed important cues. According to Monroe and Kenega (2010), Estimates that the rates of substance abuse disorders among nurses to be as high as 20% and that only 1 in 5 nurses would feel comfortable reporting a coworker. These are startling statistics considering the critical duties nurses perform during direct patient care (Monroe &Kenega, …show more content…
According to Monroe and Kenega (2010), Estimate that rates of substance abuse disorders among nurses to be as high as 20% and that only 1 in 5 nurses would feel comfortable reporting a coworker. These are startling statistics considering the critical duties nurses perform during direct patient care (Monroe &Kenega, 2010). Leadership and management must explore how the handling and storage of controlled substances can precipitate drug diversion. According to McClure, O’Neal, Grauer, Couldry, and King (2011), Substance abuse among nurses is well documented and that a perception of easy accessibility and poor workplace controls were 1.5 times more likely to divert controlled substances. Systems to control access and instituting diversion prevention programs will reduce incidences. In a survey by McClure et al. (2011) results suggest, the main areas for preventing drug diversion are in the storage and purchasing of controlled substances. They found the area for the highest risk for drug diversion was in the OR, and that 61% of facilities used biometric fingerprint technology for controlled access (McClure et al.
The manager began to write Amber up for small infractions such as neglecting to obtain a weight on a patient during her weekly bath. Shirley begins to conduct the narcotic counts with Amber. Shirley reiterates …show more content…
The impaired nurse poses a threat to the safety of themselves and the patients they provide direct care. It is essential that nurse manages to play a critical role in the detection, investigation, and intervention of nurses with substance use disorders. Leaders and managers have an ethical responsibility for reporting and removing the impaired nurse from direct patient care duties. Healthcare organizations that handle controlled substances must have policies and procedures for the handling, disposal, and storage of controlled substances. Had Shirley the manager in the scenario been educated on warning signs of substance abuse, ethical responsibilities during the investigation and learned to dispel the myth that substance abuse can affect anyone, she may not have missed important cues. According to Monroe and Kenega (2010), Estimates that the rates of substance abuse disorders among nurses to be as high as 20% and that only 1 in 5 nurses would feel comfortable reporting a coworker. These are startling statistics considering the critical duties nurses perform during direct patient care (Monroe &Kenega, …show more content…
According to Monroe and Kenega (2010), Estimate that rates of substance abuse disorders among nurses to be as high as 20% and that only 1 in 5 nurses would feel comfortable reporting a coworker. These are startling statistics considering the critical duties nurses perform during direct patient care (Monroe &Kenega, 2010). Leadership and management must explore how the handling and storage of controlled substances can precipitate drug diversion. According to McClure, O’Neal, Grauer, Couldry, and King (2011), Substance abuse among nurses is well documented and that a perception of easy accessibility and poor workplace controls were 1.5 times more likely to divert controlled substances. Systems to control access and instituting diversion prevention programs will reduce incidences. In a survey by McClure et al. (2011) results suggest, the main areas for preventing drug diversion are in the storage and purchasing of controlled substances. They found the area for the highest risk for drug diversion was in the OR, and that 61% of facilities used biometric fingerprint technology for controlled access (McClure et al.