Substance abuse in nursing is a challenge that mainly affects the healthcare industry. It also affects society regardless of economic status, ethnicity, gender, age, or occupation. Substance abuse in nursing predominantly affects the relationship with colleagues and the performance of the nurses when providing care to patients. Substance use in Nursing:

Substance abuse refers to the use of excessive alcohol, illegal drugs, or the misuse of over-the-counter and prescription medication. It mainly affects the patient’s ability to make emotional, physical, or social decisions. Early detection of substance abuse in nursing and intervention can help protect the patients, help the nurse recover, and get back to delivering competent and safe services.

This article will take you through the concept of substance abuse in nursing. We will give ethical issues faced, challenges, substance abuse standards, nurse code of ethics, and nursing interventions for substance abuse. For more information, contact us via our supportive customer care staff. We will be honored to help you.

Reasons for Substance use in Nursing

• It helps the user achieve and increase feelings of intoxication.
• Substance abuse helps to relieve negative emotional states such as anxiety, frustration, depression, and fear.
• Substance abuse helps to relieve users from boredom or fatigue and as a disruption from regular routines. 
• It helps to enhance socialization skills through self-medication.
• It helps the user cope and respond to peer pressure and relieve depression. Some abuse substances for experiment purposes.

What are the Causes of Substance Abuse?

Substance abuse in nursing results from factors such as social pressure, personality traits, environmental stressors, and genetic vulnerability. Depending on the use patterns and impact of substance use on an individual’s system, the severity can be mild, moderate, or even severe. 

Other causes include:

• Mental health issues
• Genetic and family history of substance use
• Parents’ substance use
• Difficulties with parental monitoring
• Gender identity, rejection, or sexual orientation
• Lack of school connectedness
• Pressure and academic achievement difficulties
• Childhood traumas and sexual abuse

Effects of Substance Abuse on Nursing

Substance abuse can harm body organs and cause health issues such as lung cancer, liver failure, heart disease, and collapsed blood veins.

Substances like opioids, alcohol and stimulants change the function and structure of the brain after being used for a long time. That can lead to physical injuries because of vehicle accidents and physical altercations. 

Substance abuse can lead to withdrawal, adversely affecting the user’s career life, relationships, mental stability, and family.

Causes of Substance Abuse among Nurses

Substance abuse in nursing is common, especially when nurses are pressured to offer patient care. That leads to depression or anxiety. Substance abuse occurs to nurses primarily due to the nature of their jobs.

Below are the reasons why it happens.

Emotional strain

Nurses spend much time engaging and attending to the patient’s needs. In most cases, they develop close relationships with the patient and become attached to them. Some patients pass on while receiving medication; others heal and get discharged. Depending on how fond nurses have grown of their patients, some turn to alcohol and drugs to help them deal with grief and feeling of loss.

Nurses have High-Demand Duties

Nursing duties are intense and stressful. That subjects most of them to substance abuse. In most cases, the nurses work longer than they should because of inadequate staffing, which can be tiring. It becomes stressful because they should be friendly and engaging with their patients. Most opt for the drugs that will make their body stay active and happy. They do this by self-medicating.

Nurses have Easy accessibility to Prescription Drugs

Nurses usually handle stimulants and pain relievers such as opioids when attending to patients. Given the nature of their job, they get tempted to use these drugs to make them feel calm and happy. Continued use of them leads to addiction.

Fatigue

Nurses work longer shifts. Twelve hours or more, depending on the staff available. That means they rarely get enough time to rest. This causes emotional, mental, and physical fatigue, and burnout. To deal with this, most nurses self-administer stimulants to help them stay motivated.

Standards of Care for Substance Abuse

Substance abuse nursing standards provide a statement of behavior and conduct that all registered nurses dealing with addiction must follow regardless of their setting, role, specialty, or population.

Nurse Role in Substance Abuse Treatment

Substance abuse nursing treatment is done by nurses at all stages, from admittance to assessment, treatment, and follow-up process. Nurses are the first people substance abusers encounter in the treatment facility. That means the nurse will simultaneously serve as a care provider, educator, and counselor.

One of the goals and objectives of substance abuse nursing treatment is to ensure that the patient overcomes the substance abuse addiction. In most cases, medication is combined with behavioral therapy. If the patient is admitted, the nurse’s role is to ensure that they conduct regular assessments, both physical and psychological, to ascertain whether the patient is improving.

Challenges of Substance Abuse Treatment in Nursing

The duty of substance abuse nursing treatment comes with many challenges for most nurses. Nurses must medicate, detoxify, and counsel patients dealing with substance abuse. Some patients relapse before the treatment starts to work. They are forced to begin the whole process afresh, which is time-consuming and tiring.

Substance abuse nursing challenges arise from family and friends. The nurse has difficulty with the patient’s relatives and friends who keep doing or saying things that trigger the behavior that makes the recovering substance abuser yearn for the drug.

Nurses build close bonds with their patients. When they lose a patient to complications caused by substance abuse, it becomes hard for them to get over it. Some end up depressed and traumatized.

Ethical Code in the Care of Substance Abuse during Pregnancy

Ethical Principles

The following nursing code of ethics pertains to substance abuse in pregnancy: autonomy, beneficence, and justice.

Autonomy

Women with substance disorders and who are pregnant should always be educated on the risk factors involved for her and the fetus. She should be informed of the available treatment plans and allowed to make the decision on her own.

Various ethical issues in substance abuse nursing regarding the principle of autonomy during pregnancy arise. The nurse’s role is to build a close relationship with the mother, have a respectful conversation, learn her desires, and help her decide to protect the fetus. An issue arises when the patient fails to admit to substance abuse problems for fear of suffering the consequences.

Involuntary treatment violates the principle of autonomy for the pregnant woman. When drug use is detected in a pregnant woman, the primary obligation of the nurse to the woman is to encourage and assist her in acquiring treatment. When the patient has been abusing illegal drugs, the nurse must notify them that their medical report may alert other care providers to carry out further testing. The likelihood of them coming out positive is high. 

Justice

This code of ethics applies to resource allocation for individuals or communities. Like every other patient, pregnant women should have access to medication, therapy, and assessment.

Beneficence

The care provider should actively listen and be kind and charitable to the substance-addicted patient. They must treat addiction as a medical disease rather than a moral problem. 

The principle of beneficence is violated when pregnant mothers are denied access to drug treatment or prenatal care. Denying these services to pregnant mothers is not beneficial to the unborn child.

Nursing Interventions for Substance Abuse 

One of the main ways to help patients dealing with substance abuse is by helping them acknowledge the disorder. That enables the nurse to help the patient learn coping mechanisms, social skills, medication self-efficacy, and occupational and information processing skills.

If your question is, “What are the priority nursing interventions for substance abuse?” then read below to find the answers.

The interventions include:

Denial Interventions

• The nurse portrays an attitude of acceptance as they separate patients from their substance abuse behavior
• The nurses give the patient accurate information concerning their condition
• The nurse answers all the questions the patient asks factually and honestly
• The nurse holds a severe discussion with the patient and explains the long-term effects of continued substance abuse

Ineffective Coping Interventions

• The nurse sets targets and confronts the patients for not meeting them
• They encourage the patient to verbalize anxiety, fears, and feelings
• They help the patient find a different coping mechanism
• Help patients with visualizations, relaxation, and diversions
• They encourage those that are there to offer support to the patient

Powerlessness Interventions

• The nurse shows genuine care and concern
• They come up with a contract
• They help the patient identify areas of control

Management of substance abuse

 Substance abuse management depends on the patient’s overall health, demographics, and the specific abused substance. It is crucial to conduct a thorough assessment of the patient to determine the seriousness of the condition and adopt a treatment plan that helps with the problem.

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