Assessing Nurses Diverting Drugs

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the phenomenon of nurses who divert drugs relating the problem to Kohlberg's moral stages of development. The paper also includes a brief examination of the statistics surrounding drug diversion practices among nurses, specifically within North Carolina and then throughout the United States, as well as mechanisms of diversion.

From the Paper:

"In 1984, the American Nurses Association (ANA) made a public announcement relating to its awareness of substance use and/or drug diversion among nurses as a major problem affecting the industry (West, 2002; Hrobak, (n.d.)); however West (2002) tells us that drug use, abuse and dependency among nurses has existed for over 150 years. Drug use and abuse among nurses is reported to be consistent with percentages among the general population, approximating 10% (Dunn, 2005; Hickey, 2006). While rates overall in the industry may mirror those in the general population, for state-board related disciplinary action for nurses, 67-68% were due to substance abuse issues (West, 2002)."

More papers on Assessing Nurses Diverting Drugs:

• Essay # 39625 : "The War on Drugs"
• Essay # 52080 : "Addicted Nurses and Treatment Alternatives"
• Research Paper # 115224 : "Substance Abuse Among Nurses"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: