Addictions grow deep
http://www.kcnursingnews.com/news/
An interview I had with the Kansas City Nursing News last month.
Showing posts with label impaired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impaired. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Punishment vs. Treatment
I'm speaking tomorrow (Tuesday June 9, 2009) at the College of Mt. St. Joe here in Cincinnati. A student had the courage to contact a complete stranger to discuss this highly charged, extremely unpopular topic. Her class is having a debate between disciplinary measures to deal with an impaired nurse vs. "alternative to discipline" methods of dealing with the disease and the nurse who suffers with it.
I'll post the results tomorrow. It should be an interesting day.
Thanks for having the guts to take the less than popular stance, Samantha!
I'll post the results tomorrow. It should be an interesting day.
Thanks for having the guts to take the less than popular stance, Samantha!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Casey's Law
I met an amazing woman last Friday. Her name, Charlotte Wethington.
How do you recover from the death of your son, your only child? As if his death isn't bad enough, it came from a disease that is treatable. The disease of chemical dependence. Her 23 year old son Casey died of an overdose of heroin. And the sad thing is this, she had taken her son to the emergency room for an overdose...2 previous times! After his first ER visit...for an overdose of heroin...he was discharged because he refused to enter treatment. Why? Because there was no law that allowed the parents of a child over the age of 18 to mandate treatment. Even though an addict is incapable of making a rational decision when it comes to the use of drugs, they still can't have him admitted. And consider this. Casey was "recovering" from an overdose. Common sense tells you this person is OBVIOUSLY incapable of making a rational decision regarding treatment for drug addiction!
Ahhhh yes...this is the land where a land owner can lose control over what they do with their land if an endangered flea is found on their property. But intervene when a human is suffering from a treatable disease that renders them incapable of making a rational decision. Ohhhh no.....we wouldn't want to do that!
This country has lost it's mind!
The second ER visit within less than a year was for another heroin overdose. OK. Second OD in less than a year. Doesn't it seem "logical" that the person has demonstrated an inability to make rational decisions regarding the use of a potentially fatal drug? But again, we can't interfere with an irrational decision that might cause a death, but we WILL interfere with a terminally ill person's right to die with dignity. We WILL intervene if someone with severe, chronic, unrelenting pain that can't be cured seems to be taking "too much" pain medication. Even though it has been prescribed by a board certified pain specialist. Oh my! We wouldn't want this person who has no hope of a cure for their pain to become addicted! But it IS OK to let an already addicted individual die from their disease once it's already happened because we can't mandate them to treatment which is life saving!
What the hell is wrong with this picture?
When they were getting ready to discharge Casey, a nurse in the ER told his mother that her son hadn't lived long enough yet, he was too young to have "hit bottom" yet. He hadn't "lost enough". She said to the nurse, "What happens if never grows "old enough"? What happens if his "bottom" is death?" She had no idea she was predicting the future. Her son died several weeks later from one last overdose.
Charlotte, not willing to simply grieve the loss of her son, decided to make a difference. She began to research how to get a law passed. When she was told she would never succeed, she kept on plugging away. When more people told her it would take nothing less than 5 years to accomplish the passage of a bill. She did it in 2 years! As she told me in our discussion, rather than give up when a door would close in her face, she would find another and walk through that one.
I told her she was my hero for having the guts to do what needed to be done regardless of who it ticked off and who didn't like it.
I guess that's the power that a wounded mother is capable of, even if the wound was a fatal one...for her only child.
How do you recover from the death of your son, your only child? As if his death isn't bad enough, it came from a disease that is treatable. The disease of chemical dependence. Her 23 year old son Casey died of an overdose of heroin. And the sad thing is this, she had taken her son to the emergency room for an overdose...2 previous times! After his first ER visit...for an overdose of heroin...he was discharged because he refused to enter treatment. Why? Because there was no law that allowed the parents of a child over the age of 18 to mandate treatment. Even though an addict is incapable of making a rational decision when it comes to the use of drugs, they still can't have him admitted. And consider this. Casey was "recovering" from an overdose. Common sense tells you this person is OBVIOUSLY incapable of making a rational decision regarding treatment for drug addiction!
Ahhhh yes...this is the land where a land owner can lose control over what they do with their land if an endangered flea is found on their property. But intervene when a human is suffering from a treatable disease that renders them incapable of making a rational decision. Ohhhh no.....we wouldn't want to do that!
This country has lost it's mind!
The second ER visit within less than a year was for another heroin overdose. OK. Second OD in less than a year. Doesn't it seem "logical" that the person has demonstrated an inability to make rational decisions regarding the use of a potentially fatal drug? But again, we can't interfere with an irrational decision that might cause a death, but we WILL interfere with a terminally ill person's right to die with dignity. We WILL intervene if someone with severe, chronic, unrelenting pain that can't be cured seems to be taking "too much" pain medication. Even though it has been prescribed by a board certified pain specialist. Oh my! We wouldn't want this person who has no hope of a cure for their pain to become addicted! But it IS OK to let an already addicted individual die from their disease once it's already happened because we can't mandate them to treatment which is life saving!
What the hell is wrong with this picture?
When they were getting ready to discharge Casey, a nurse in the ER told his mother that her son hadn't lived long enough yet, he was too young to have "hit bottom" yet. He hadn't "lost enough". She said to the nurse, "What happens if never grows "old enough"? What happens if his "bottom" is death?" She had no idea she was predicting the future. Her son died several weeks later from one last overdose.
Charlotte, not willing to simply grieve the loss of her son, decided to make a difference. She began to research how to get a law passed. When she was told she would never succeed, she kept on plugging away. When more people told her it would take nothing less than 5 years to accomplish the passage of a bill. She did it in 2 years! As she told me in our discussion, rather than give up when a door would close in her face, she would find another and walk through that one.
I told her she was my hero for having the guts to do what needed to be done regardless of who it ticked off and who didn't like it.
I guess that's the power that a wounded mother is capable of, even if the wound was a fatal one...for her only child.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Should a nurse with a DUI be reported and disciplined by the board of nursing?
I'll have more to say about this topic in the next few days. For right now, here's a blog from a nurse attorney in Texas.
DWI & Nursing License Discipline by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners
What are YOUR thoughts about this article?
Jack
DWI & Nursing License Discipline by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners
What are YOUR thoughts about this article?
Jack
Monday, February 23, 2009
Nursing Workshops for 2009
LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, JD and I are providing a series of workshops for nurses in the Greater Cincinnati area. The workshops focus on Substance Abuse and Addiction in Nursing and Nursing Law and Order. These workshops will be intimate and focused in order to allow a relaxed atmosphere and encourage interaction with all who attend.
Nurses and other health care professionals are at risk to develop substance abuse and chemical dependency. Education and training does not provide immunity for health care professionals. The stigma associated with this disease prevents early recognition and intervention, allowing the disease to progress and making successful treatment with long term recovery difficult. Continuing to deal with this public health crisis by sending non-violent addicts to prison instead of sending them to treatment, will only assure failure and hopelessness for the addict and those who care abut them.
Here are the first 2 workshop dates, times, and places. Be sure to check back for the remaining schedule.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Substance Abuse and Addiction in Nursing
The Profession’s Response
6pm-7pm
presented by Jack Stem, Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses, LLC
2009 RN Renewal Application and the Ohio Board of Nursing
7pm-8pm
This is workshop with no CE credit provided.
presented by LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, BSN, JD
Panera Bread
405 East Kemper Road
Springdale, Ohio 45246
Monday, April 27, 2009
Is Addiction Really a Disease?
The Biology and Pathophysiology of Addiction
6pm- 7pm
presented by Jack Stem, Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses, LLC
What is Nursing Board Discipline and How Does It Impact A Nurse’s Employability?
7pm-8pm
This is a workshop with no CE credit provided
presented by LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, BSN, JD
Panera Bread
8420 Winton Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45231
Nurses and other health care professionals are at risk to develop substance abuse and chemical dependency. Education and training does not provide immunity for health care professionals. The stigma associated with this disease prevents early recognition and intervention, allowing the disease to progress and making successful treatment with long term recovery difficult. Continuing to deal with this public health crisis by sending non-violent addicts to prison instead of sending them to treatment, will only assure failure and hopelessness for the addict and those who care abut them.
Here are the first 2 workshop dates, times, and places. Be sure to check back for the remaining schedule.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Substance Abuse and Addiction in Nursing
The Profession’s Response
6pm-7pm
presented by Jack Stem, Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses, LLC
2009 RN Renewal Application and the Ohio Board of Nursing
7pm-8pm
This is workshop with no CE credit provided.
presented by LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, BSN, JD
Panera Bread
405 East Kemper Road
Springdale, Ohio 45246
Monday, April 27, 2009
Is Addiction Really a Disease?
The Biology and Pathophysiology of Addiction
6pm- 7pm
presented by Jack Stem, Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses, LLC
What is Nursing Board Discipline and How Does It Impact A Nurse’s Employability?
7pm-8pm
This is a workshop with no CE credit provided
presented by LaTonia Denise Wright, RN, BSN, JD
Panera Bread
8420 Winton Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45231
Thursday, February 12, 2009
On the road to Glenbeigh!
After a wild weather day here in Cincinnati (thunderstorms, winds up to 60 MPH) I'm driving 5 hours to Glenbeigh Hospital to give a presentation on the treatment guidelines for impaired nurses and nurse anesthesia providers.
Glenbeigh has an excellent treatment facility and a top-notch treatment team with an excellent program for impaired health care professionals. With the board of nursing steering fewer and fewer nurses into treatment, focusing mainly on discipline, it's imperative for intervention as early as possible. This protects the patients while providing the intense treatment required to arrest the progress of this deadly disease.
How can nursing ever hope to provide compassionate care to the chemically dependent in society when they can't provide that care to their own colleagues?
Glenbeigh has an excellent treatment facility and a top-notch treatment team with an excellent program for impaired health care professionals. With the board of nursing steering fewer and fewer nurses into treatment, focusing mainly on discipline, it's imperative for intervention as early as possible. This protects the patients while providing the intense treatment required to arrest the progress of this deadly disease.
How can nursing ever hope to provide compassionate care to the chemically dependent in society when they can't provide that care to their own colleagues?
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