SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG NURSES: A SURVEY OF STAFF DEMOGRAPHICS AND SYSTEM INTERVENTION STRATEGIES.
Contributors: University of Missouri--Columbia.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 200
Subjects: Health Sciences, Mental Health.; Psychology, Clinical.; Education, Guidance and Counseling.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The problem of substance abuse among nurses has become an issue of increasing concern, as it negatively impacts on the nurse's ability to provide quality patient care, and implies incompetent, unethical, and illegal practice. Nursing, like other health care professionals, has been limited in its approach to dealing with chemically impaired colleagues because of a sparsity of organized, scientific, validated approaches to determining the extent of the problem, identification, intervention, and prevention.

There has usually been 3 to 5 years of drug misuse before job performance begins to deteriorate and the nurse is caught. It is unfortunate that many nursing supervisors are not trained to recognize a chemically impaired nurse, because outcome rates are good for those who are identified early and sent for treatment as a condition for maintaining their job and license to practice.

The purpose of this research study was to identify factors that are associated with the incidence of chemical impairment in nursing. The data requested was for the 5 year period prior to the study. Specifically, the study addressed type of health care facility, mode of delivering nursing care, structure of Nursing Service, and patient care areas.

The study populations were (1) a nationwide sampling of government health care facilities and (2) private health care facilities in states that have a State Nurses' Association Peer Assistance Program.

The results of the study indicate there is a statistically significant relationship between the assignment of nurses to medical patient care areas and the incidence of chemical impairment. Another significant finding was structure of Nursing Service (centralized versus decentralized) is more of an issue than mode of delivery in both government health care facilities and private health care facilities.

Several recommendations for further study were submitted.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-09, Section: B, page: 3670.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - COLUMBIA, 1988.

School code: 0133.