MANITOBA NURSES ON CARPET OVER DRUGS

Four Manitoba nurses were disciplined after they were caught abusing
alcohol, cocaine and other narcotics on the job -- including instances
where mood-altering drugs were stolen from the hospitals or
health-care facilities where they worked. The College of Registered
Nurses of Manitoba suspended three of the nurses who were caught
abusing drugs by their employers or colleagues, while another nurse
who reported herself has been stripped of the ability to practise
alone. The cases are not connected.

Each nurse must provide proof of having entered into a treatment
program. They will also undergo mandatory random urine tests to prove
they're clean.

One nurse has been banned from practising in critical care or
emergency trauma, and has been banned from working more than 48 hours
in seven days.

The four incidents, which resulted in disciplinary action in 2008,
were made public this month, when the names of the nurses and a report
by the college's complaints committee were posted online. The four
cases raise the total number of nurses disciplined for their
addictions in the last six years to 13 -- more than half of the total
number of discipline incidents in that time.

Zenon Lisakowski, a nurse who works for the Addictions Foundation of
Manitoba and sits on the college's discipline committee, said nurses
who are disciplined for substance abuse have repeatedly failed to get
proper treatment or are unwilling to do so.

He said the discipline process is the last resort, and outlines strict
orders the addicted nurses must follow in order to keep their licences
and protect public safety.

Lisakowski said nurses are considered at a higher risk of abusing
substances than the general public, and that an average of three or
four nurses a month seek addiction treatment through AFM.

Nurses are obliged to report a colleague who is drunk or high to their
employer, who, in turn, reports the incident to the college.

Sandi Mowat, president of Manitoba Nurses Union, said nurses who
battle addictions are put in a tough position since they have
high-stress jobs and access to powerful medications.

Mowat said the discipline process is much more positive than it was
two decades ago, when harsher penalties meant nurses were less likely
to report either themselves or a colleague who was addicted.

"In emergency (rooms) there are some pretty potent drugs there that
are pretty accessible. Having said that, I worked in emergency for 15
years and I only worked with one drug-addicted nurse," Mowat said.

The news that four nurses were disciplined comes the week after a
Brandon-based anesthetist was stripped of his ability to administer
narcotics after an investigation found he created fictitious patients
to hide painkillers he had in his possession.

The doctor was censured and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. He denied
using the painkillers himself.

13 cases in six years

While experts say the number of nurses struggling with substance abuse
is low, 13 of 23 nurses disciplined by the College of Registered
Nurses of Manitoba since

2003 were drug-or alcohol-addicted. The breakdown of nurses
disciplined for substance abuse, based on numbers provided by the college:

2008 4

2007 1

2006 1

2005 5

2004 1

2003 1