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Home Drug Treatment Drug Treatment Articles Medical Professionals Who Abuse Drugs Not Rare

Medical Professionals Who Abuse Drugs Not Rare

Friday, 22 February 2013 19:52

As per a study by the American Nurses Association’s Peer Assistance Program in 2009, one in ten nurses was found to be hooked on drugs. Moreover, 14 percent of the nurses were found to be addicted to substance abuse, which included alcohol as well. This finding did not surprise the officials because drug abuse has been commonly noticed in medical professionals for some time. They have been found to be writing prescriptions for fake patients in order to acquire those drugs for themselves. This has created a reverberation in the medical community.


Reasons For Increasing Drug Abuse

The primary reason observed for the increasing drug abuse by medical professionals is the fact that they have extremely easy access to these drugs. The highest rate of addiction to these drugs is found in anesthesiologists because of the strength of the drugs that they deal with. ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and emergency room nurses are found to be the second in line to anesthesiologists.

Another very common reason observed for increasing drug abuse is stress and being physically tired. In addition to being tempted by the availability of drugs all around them, the nurses and doctors also have to deal with sick and dying patients, and there are times when they are not even able to help despite trying hard and to the best of their abilities. Thus, they end up feeling very helpless and in need of relaxing substances. This makes the use of drugs even more tempting for them. Long working hours and rotating shifts of work also intensify the stress levels of medical professionals.

Drug abuse would also depend on the family history and temperament of the doctors and nurses. Professionals facing any sort of a disorder in their personal lives, or those having family and friends under the influence of drugs are more prone to drug abuse. Similarly, medical professionals with weak will power and an ignorant attitude towards the harmful effects of drug abuse are also more prone to this addiction.

How To Help

The American Nurses Association recognized how important it is to get rid of this addiction in nurses, and thus it took the initiative to provide recovery services to the affected nurses. They have also listed the names and contact numbers of the organizations that help in getting peer support for drug addicts. Another initiative taken by the ANA is to list the symptoms and behaviors commonly noticed in the people affected by drug abuse.

As a punishment for the doctors or nurses caught under addiction, some officials recommend prosecution. However, some doctors and nurses can also be punished in a more lenient way. For example, Dr. Anne Johnston in Vermont was found to be writing fake prescriptions, and was only asked to continue practicing under a limited or probationary license instead of being prosecuted. These limits were applied to her prescribing controlled medicines.

This situation is clearly dangerous for the patients. This is because a patient always feels comfortable in visiting a medical professional who is sane, thinks clearly and is able to prescribe the correct treatment and medicines. However, this may not be possible if the professional is under the influence of drugs, and thus can risk the safety of the patients. Hence it is important for the patients to be proactive and immediately report any signs of drug abuse that they observe in their medical source. In this scenario, they should also switch to another professional so that they are in safe hands. A doctor under the influence is dangerous, indeed.

For more information on this topic or to read ones like it contact Narconon now.

Sources: http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/medical-professionals-who-abuse-drugs-not-rare/nTXH5/
 

 

 

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Newsflash

 This is the story of a girl we will call Brandy. Brandy is not her real name but one used to protect her identity. Brandy grew up in is well-to-do family with parents that doted on her and provided her with everything that money could buy. Unfortunately, when Brandy was 13 years old she developed cancer in her ovaries as well as her uterus. She had to have a hysterectomy and she completely recovered. However, she lost the ability to naturally have children. She was also forced to go on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of her life. This devastated her. Brandy, as a little girl, had always imagined herself growing up and having two or three children and a loving husband. She says that she feels like she was born to be a mother but fate intervened and rendered her unable to do so.

Because of this, Brandy says that she suffered from depression. A cousin of hers, who is her same age, started using drugs when the girls were 15 years old. They had always been very close and Brandy said it was not long before she was using drugs as well. Brandy said initially she did not get addicted to them but would only use them recreationally. Brandy was also very intelligent and excelled at school. When she graduated high school she went to college and majored in radio broadcasting and advertisement. She would continue to party on the weekends but devoted most of her attention to her studies. When she graduated college got a very good job at a local radio station where she made a lot of money.