NURSING ADDICTIONS

THE appropriate way to manage health-care professionals with
addictions is an evolving matter that requires balancing risk with
benefit -- everyone is better served by a regime that encourages
professionals to get themselves help before the problem puts patients
at risk. Finding the perfect balance, however, may prove elusive.
Ultimately, regulators must regard the safety of patients as primary.
Some debate the value of naming and disciplining those who are caught
or admit voluntarily to abusing substances. Last year, the College of
Registered Nurses of Manitoba suspended and named three nurses who
were turned in by their colleagues for drug addictions, and named
another nurse who reported her problem to the college. The latter
nurse had her working conditions restricted. The college made clear
that naming and disciplining nurses is done only when necessary;
those with addictions are disciplined when it becomes apparent they
have repeatedly failed, or will not get treatment.

Doctors are managed much the same way by their licensing body and
recently a Brandon-based anesthetist was publicly named and had his
practice curtailed for substance abuse.

A Canadian authority in substance abuse among medical staff believes
naming and punishing defeats the larger interest in the issue, which
is to prevent such situations from continuing unchecked. That is
done, Dr. Graeme Cunningham noted, by giving them assurance they will
not be named, shamed and stripped of their livelihood.

There is good reason to recognize the fact human frailties will trip
up a percentage of the population. It is equally important to
recognize that addicts in the workaday world pose different issues in
their workplaces -- a letter carrier on cocaine is unlikely to
unravel the postal system, but a nurse or doctor who is high on the
job can bring unmitigated misery to a patient. One is primarily an
economic consideration to an employer; the other is first and
foremost a potential public hazard. The decision to name an
individual is not something that should, nor, it seems, is taken
lightly. The fact it is considered a "last resort" might seem too
accommodating for many people. Programs to offer assistance to health
professionals with addictions should be broad and well-advertised.
Ultimately, a licensing body's responsibility is to keep patients
safe and it should act accordingly.