Does receiving treatment for substance abuse affect one's standing as a health care professional?

Take a look at the VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYSqwqMe4g to see what Rebecca Mason, RN, CNS, CEAP has to say…

She states that “if a healthcare professional does not receive treatment its likely that the DISEASE will progress and they will have a negative consequence at work that might involve patient harm.” Inflicting patient harm would be more likely to have professional consequences than just receiving treatment. Many states have alternative programs that allow licensed professionals to remain in their profession as long as they are compliant with the requirements of treatment. Rebecca Mason addresses the program in the state of Virginia that follows licensed professionals in treatment for 5 years to ensure that they are safe to practice.

“Since the early 1980s, all the major professional nursing associations, such as the ANA, the NCSBN, and the International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNsa), and the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) have advocated alternative-to-discipline programs prior to initiating more formal disciplinary proceedings. These organizations recognized that more supportive recovery efforts helped keep valuable practitioners in a profession facing catastrophic labor shortages. Despite these recommendations, not all states have implemented alternative programs and there is little consistency in the approaches they use. ” (Monroe, Pearson, & Kenaga, 2008). There needs to be a national standard for substance abuse treatment programs for all healthcare providers focused on rehabilitating these licensed professionals. The treatment must be individualized and the professionals’ involvement in health care during treatment must be assessed in order to prevent patient harm.

Resources:
Monroe, T., Pearson, F., & Kenaga H. (2008). Prcedure for handling cases of substance abuse among nurses: a comparison of disciplinary and alternative programs. Journal of Addictions Nursing. 19(3), 156-161. doi: 10.1080/10884600802306024