Ethical Issues Of Nurses With Substance Abuse Disorder

Ethical Issues that the Nurse, Employer, and society encounter when dealing with a nurse that is an addict Diane Jennette University of West Florida Abstract The responsibility of regulating nursing practice that ensures public safety, health and welfare and accountability to the public for proper governance falls on the State Boards of Nursing (BONs). Substance abuse is the most common disease that affects healthcare workers (Darbro, 2009). The disease of substance abuse disorder is preventable (Darbro, 2009). The intent of this paper is to discuss the ethical issues of nurses with substance abuse disorder, stigma of addiction, challenges that nurses with substance abuse problems face to include acceptance of the disease, treatment, rehabilitation and monitoring, the incidence of addiction among nurses, how to recognize an impaired colleague, nurses’ attitudes about addiction within the profession and the ethical issues that the nurse, employer and society face when dealing with a nurse who is an addict. It was in the 1980s that professional nursing organizations recommended alternative to discipline (ATD) programs to help rehab ilitate nurses (Sigma Theta Tau, 2014). In the past 20 years 46 states have gone with this approach as opposed to traditional discipline (Trussman, 2003). 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