IMPAIRED NURSE IN NORTH CAROLINA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION AND PRACTICE (NURSE).
Contributors: North Carolina State University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 222
Subjects: Education, Vocational.; Health Sciences, Education.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to compare characteristics of registered nurses disciplined for substance abuse by the North Carolina Board of Nursing with a random sample of nondisciplined North Carolina nurses.

The researcher hypothesized that: (1) nurses disciplined by the North Carolina Board of Nursing for substance abuse are a heterogeneous population and share their common characteristics with the larger population of nurses; and (2) nurses disciplined by the North Carolina Board of Nursing for substance abuse are heterogeneous and cannot be organized into smaller groups based on drug of choice, route of administration, or frequency/volume of substance used.

A 56-item questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 registered nurses never disciplined by the North Carolina Board of Nursing and to 92 registered nurses disciplined for substance abuse between August 1, 1988 and September 30, 1990. A total of 543 questionnaires were returned by the nondisciplined group (55.47%), and 35 questionnaires were returned by the disciplined group (38.04%).

The disciplined group was statistically different from the nondisciplined group on age, marital status, history of substance abuse in family of origin, treatment for depression, history of heavy drinking in family of origin, use of selected substances, use of "street drugs", history of sexual molestation, and incest.

The disciplined group was assigned to subgroups by drug of choice, route of administration, and amount of drug consumed. The group who preferred alcohol was least likely to have worked in acute care and less likely to report treatment for substance abuse. The group who used morphine was most likely to report using the drug to "function better." No differences were found based on route of administration or amount of drug consumed.

Recommendations for further research were presented along with attitudes of disciplined and nondisciplined nurses toward selected licensure issues. Implications of the findings for education and practice were presented.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-09, Section: A, page: 3255.

Thesis (ED.D.)--NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1991.

School code: 0155.