SPECIAL SESSION: From Impairment to Empowerment: Addressing Substance Use Disorder in the Nurse Profession

Description/Overview: Knowing that an estimated 1 in 10 nurses suffers from substance use disorder (SUD), makes this topic poignantly relevant for all nurse –related professionals. Deficient education, cultural stigma and avoidance set up nurses with SUDs for greater risk than recovery. Recognizing that addiction is a disease, it is a failure in the nurse profession to perceive nurses with SUDs as weaker or having moral shortcomings. This promotes ignorance and drives the disease deeper underground. It’s time to get the conversation started: How do we become more informed and proactive in addressing SUDs in the workplace? How do we treat our colleagues with substance use disorder as patients rather than failures? The presentation covers: • A general introduction to: o How nurses become addicted o How to spot symptomology • Preparation for encountering substance abuse in staff o Strategies for responding to potential substance abuse o Educating staff to respond to substance abuse • Considerations for working with nurses in recovery