Substance Abusers Do Not Have A Specific - 895 Words

Substance abusers do not have a specific â€Å"look.† They come in the forms of all races, colors, ethnicities, genders, ages, and careers. According to Thomas and Siela (2011), â€Å"About 1 in 10, or 10-15% of all nurses, may be impaired or in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. Although nurses aren’t at a higher increase risk than the public sector, their overall pattern of dependency is unique because they have greater access to drugs in the work environment† (Introduction, para 1). Substance abuse in nurses occurs at the same rate as the average population. Therefore, it is not unusual to find that nurses are among those who abuse drugs and alcohol. Alcohol and drug abuse among the nursing profession has been the cause of nurses increasing impairment on the job. Due to the rise in these problems in the nursing population, it has had a negative impact on many aspects of nursing. According to Blais and Hayes (2011), †There are three victims of the n urse who is impaired: the client, whose care may be compromised by the nurse whose judgement and skills are impaired; the nurse’s colleagues, who must pick up after the impaired worker; and the impaired nurse, whose illness may go undetected and untreated for years† (p. 89). Impaired nurses contribute to absenteeism, the nursing shortage, increased costs to train another nurse to replace them even if it is only temporary, patient safety is compromised, and high turnover rates The nurses, in essence, are unable to provide safe andShow MoreRelatedSubstance Abusers: A Vulnerable Population Essay840 Words   |  4 PagesA vulnerable population are people that have specific characteristics, or risk factors, that increase the probability of developing health problems (Harkness DeMarco, 2012, p.103). A Vulnerable is important because anyone can become a part of this population. 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