Introduction
Nurses with substance use disorder (SUD) present challenges to the nursing profession
and patients. With increased recognition of SUD as a disease, alternative-to-discipline
(ATD) programs have emerged as a more contemporary, nondisciplinary approach to managing
SUD in health professionals and have been implemented by many state boards of nursing
(BONs).
Aim
The aim of this analysis was to explore the components and requirements of state nurse
monitoring programs to determine the similarities and differences across programs.
Methods
A document analysis was performed on U.S. monitoring program materials in August 2017.
Participation was requested from all U.S. BONs with ATD programs, and 27 programs
(69%) provided materials. Results: Twenty-one program components and requirements emerged from the review. Many program
components and requirements were found in at least 50% of the program documents, including
(a) an alcohol/drug abstinence requirement (85%), (b) use of mood-altering medications
for psychiatric/medical conditions while participating in a program (70%), (c) use
of Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotic Anonymous/12-Step program as an acceptable group
meeting (62%), and (d) restricted hours and shifts (59%).
Conclusions
Wide variation exists in the components of nurse SUD monitoring programs. There is
a lack of consistency and uniformity among nurse monitoring programs, and additional
investigation is needed to determine the essential components and requirements that
would lead to positive outcomes for nurses with SUD.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Nursing RegulationAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Addiction self-help groups and 12 step groups.
- Questions & answers on sponsorship.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Author.
- How are addicted physicians treated? A national survey of physician health programs.Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2009; 37: 1), 1-7
- Clinical policies and procedures. Policy Number: 010 Toxicology.2016, June
- Substance use disorder in nursing: A resource manual and guidelines for alternative and disciplinary monitoring programs.https://www.ncsbn.org/SUDN_11.pdfDate: 2011
- Outcomes of substance use disorder monitoring programs.Journal of Nursing Regulation. 2020; 11: 28-35
Biography
Kathleen Russell, JD, MN, RN, is Associate Director, Regulation, National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois.
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Conflict of Interest Compliance Article 5Journal of Nursing Regulation Vol. 12Issue 2
- PreviewAs is standard in scholarly publishing, NCSBN’s Journal of Nursing Regulation (JNR) requires its authors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest (COI). Although COI information has always been collected by our staff in order to support editors’ review of the paper, it was not our standard practice to publish COI statements in each article. In this issue, JNR is retrospectively publishing the COI statements, which were collected with the below papers at submission, in order to make potential COI’s transparent to readers, as well as editors.
- Full-Text
- Preview
