Oxycontin Addiction Rehab

An addict in Nurse’s Scrubs is what this story should be called.  StarTribune.com reported this story from a former nurses aid and one time cop.  He had an addiction to painkillers and he did whatever he needed to get his fix.  He was fired from his job as a nurse but he walked into the hospital one day with his scrubs on and went straight to the storage room to look for and find narcotics.  No one noticed him, because he was in scrubs, he knew what to do to look inconspicuous.  He got into restricted areas of the hospital and found synthetic Opioid and slipped them into his pocket and went home to feed his addiction to painkillers.  He notes in his story that he is not surprised at the recent rise of painkillers thefts by employees in hospitals.  He is familiar with the desperation and ingenuity of a prescription drug junkie inside a medical facility.  There are many thefts going on behind closed doors at hospitals.  Some of it is by the doctors and some of it is by the nurses.  These thefts by nurses mirrors increases nationally in the abuse of painkillers.  Propublica.com reports that nurse participants of a drug program who practiced while intoxicated, stole drugs from the bedridden and falsified records to cover their tracks.  Nurses do face disciplinary actions and have to get on a program but most of them do not finish this program.

A nurse who is using drugs while they are at work can be guilty of patient harm as a direct result of this abuse.  They can mistreat their patient with medication errors.  They can cost the hospital in the way of stolen drugs, lost wages, training and re-hiring.  If they mistreat their patient and the patient makes a claim against the hospital that can cost them thousands.  This nurse is also hurting her family because she may lose her job and even the entire career.  There are nurses that notice that their fellow nurses are using but they will not report them because they don’t want their friend to lose their job.  It is suspected that 10% of the nursing population has an alcohol/drug problem and some of the abuse problems are serious enough to interfere with their practice.  This is reported by the American Nurses Association.  Nurses have a lot of stress on their positions.  They are expected to work long shifts, overtime, rotating shifts and floating to unfamiliar units.  All this can make them feel tired and much stressed.  Drug abuse may be a way of coping with this stress.  Some of these nurses live, breath and sleep work.  Whatever the reason nurses do abuse drugs and they are in the front lines of our medical professions.  They have the wherewithal to be around drugs and it is easy for them to manipulate getting what they need.  I don’t even know if more education will work in this case because these nurses have an education of what drugs can do to you.  I believe this profession should be repositioned so that shifts are not as long and stress is not so high for these nurses.

If someone you love is addicted to OxyContin or other painkillers, we can help.  Call our drug abuse rehabilitation program now at 1-877-340-3602.  A counselor is standing by.