Reporting Impaired Nurses Essay Example

Health care professionals have higher rates of dependence on alcoholism and other controlled substances. About 10-15 percent of the nursing population is either impaired or recovering from drug addiction or alcoholism. Although, they are not at a higher risk compared to the public, their patterns of dependency are unique and attributed to the easiness of access to these controlled substances (Videbeck, 2011). The issue of reporting substance abuse is important and extremely sensitive. A nurse may hesitate to report a colleague for fear of feeling guilty, to avoid conflict and difficulty in believing that a trained health professional may engage in drugs. Reluctance to report substance abuse among nurses put patient care and safety at risk, may harm the facility’s reputation and also put the nurse’s life at risk. American Nurses Association requires nurses to report impaired colleagues