If you believed a co-worker was having a substance abuse problem, what would you do to help?

Within the professional world it is often hard to recognize impaired or struggling co-workers, especially relating to substance addiction or abuse, which can often lie under the surface and remain unnoticeable to the casual observer. However, if you do in fact suspect a coworker to have a drug abuse problem it is crucial that you act to get the individual help, especially when they are working in a medical setting.

The imperative nature of this type of issue is made quite clear by The Nursing Code of Ethics, which states that:

“Nurses must be vigilant to protect the patient, the public and the profession from potential harm when a colleague’s practice, in any setting, appears to be impaired . . . nurses in all roles should advocate for colleagues whose job performance may be impaired to ensure that they receive appropriate assistance, treatment and access to fair institutional and legal processes. This includes supporting the return to practice of the individual who has sought assistance and is ready to resume professional duties.” (Sect 3.6 Addressing Impaired Practice)

There are numerous options available in this type of situation, and while the most important aspect of the process is getting help for the addicted individual, it is important to realize that various methods can be used to go about this process.

Steps available to you include:

1. Utilizing an Employee Assistance Program offered by your employer:

Most medical systems have created an Employee Assistance Program to aid workers in their personal and professional struggles. One common portion of this type of program includes coping with substance abuse in the workplace. The resources related to substance abuse may include counseling services, group seminars, and recommendations to treatment or recovery facilities.
Additionally, this resource may be able to offer assistance to you as the outside observer about ways to approach the issue.

- For example, the University of Virginia Employee Assistance Program offers a tutorial on “How to Intervene With an Employee Who Might be Impaired”
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/feap/supervisor/intervene-impaired-employee.cfm

More examples of Employee Assistance Programs can be found at the EAP Directory site, located at:
http://www.eap-sap.com/

2. Contacting your employer or the state board about the individual to initiate further investigation.

This is often a helpful approach for the further investigation of co-workers, given the ability of employers and the state board to much more thoroughly and legally look into the behavior and professional record of the individual under scrutiny. However, professionals are often hesitant to take this path because of misgivings or uncertainty about the truth of their suspicions (Peck, 2009).

3. Recommending the individual to the Professional Recovery Network (Professional Recovery Network, 2009).

This option presents numerous benefits to the concerned coworker as a result of its professional nature and its “non-coercive and non-punitive” philosophy (Profesional Recovery Network, 2009). The Network offers a range of outpatient services; including consultation (12 Step programs etc.), interventions, recovery monitoring, relapse management, and advocacy (the ability of PRN to argue for the individual’s continued medical practicing if they have demonstrated abstinence and recovery).

Additionally, the Professional Recovery Network presents an option for co-workers to remain anonymous in their concern by referring the affected individual’s information to PRN and allowing them to make initial contact. The option of remaining anonymous presents a helpful way to get a co-worker the assistance they need without taking on the onus of being “the bad guy”.

Here is a link to a PRN site, take a look!
http://www.southworthassociates.net/recovery-enhancement-program.html

4. Recommending the co-worker to the Caduceus Group (Caduceus group, 2009).

The Caduceus Group is an outpatient, confidential treatment resource for recovering healthcare professionals that is located in various locations throughout the country. Benefits of this program include individual treatment plans, varying levels of offered therapy (ranging from individual, to group, to family), and the availability of regulation of recovery through a system of reporting.

This is an example of a Caduceus Group site in Illinois:
http://www.carle-clinic.com/Recovery_Center/Pages/CaduceusGroup.aspx

While these options are certainly not the only answer, nor are they guaranteed to be successful, they offer much helpful insight into the process of recovery, and the ways which concerning outsiders can truly help to make this process a success.

Take a look at what Audrey Snyder, PhD, RN, ACNP-CS, FAANP, CMT and Daniel Becker, MD, MPH, MFA, Center Director, Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health Sciences, had to say on the subject: VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67PVwLcu9qA

Resources:

Caduceus group. Retrieved November 20, 2009 from the Carle Clinic website: http://www.carle-clinic.com/Recovery_Center/Pages/CaduceusGroup.aspx

Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. (2001a). Retrieved November 20, 2009 from the American Nurses Association website: http://nursingworld.org/ethics/code/protected_nwcoe813.htm

Peck, A. (2009, August 23). Substance abuse in healthcare professionals. Retrieved November 20, 2009 from the Student Doctor Network website: http://www.studentdoctor.net/2009/08/substance-abuse-in-the-healthcare-professions

Professional recovery network: Addiction and recovery services for health professionals. Retrieved November 20, 2009 from the Southworth Associates: Professional Recovery Network website: http://www.southworthassociates.net/professional-recovery-network.html