Implications of Consuming Alcohol While Working in a Safety-Sensitive Job in Nursing - Essay Example

Implications of consuming alcohol while working in a safety-sensitive job in nursing. Implications of consuming alcohol while working in a safety-sensitive job in nursing Safety sensitive jobs are those jobs in which the use of alcohol or any other drug may ascertain the harm of other individuals working with that person at any workplace. The workplace maybe a hospital, construction site or any other job in which your performance and actions affect others in your surroundings. It is very necessary that you perform your job with full devotion and concentration and remain in your proper state of mind during your job otherwise it leaves a negative impact on your personality as well as the organization in which you are working. If nursing is considered it is a very safety sensitive job, because a nurse plays a key role in looking after patients and in their recovery. Nurses are the primary care takers who may work in a position where patients in extremely bad health are present and in such a situation it is very necessary that the nurses are very alert and attentive. Nurses cannot take a chance to be lazy or irresponsive because a life is always at stake for a nurse, she maybe responsible for saving a life a life as well as taking a life if she delays in responding to an emergency (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1999). Alcohol or any other drug use in nurses can weaken their judging ability and their capability of looking after patients and providing them with proper care. Use of drugs by nurses can question their credibility in providing the right care to patients for which they are hired. Nurses can easily get access to a number of drugs which they administer to different patients on regular basis. Nurses without any much trouble can get addicted to a number of drugs. Use of alcohol or any other drug can have serious adverse effects in the work performance and also have serious after effects as well. Increased blood alcohol level while present at the work place can jeopardize the efficiency of the nurse and create great risks for the patients. The nurse will not remain in his or her normal mental state and therefore will prove dangerous for the patients as he or she can cause harm to the patient. The nurse would be likely to make serious errors, and misjudgment which will certainly be harmful or even life taking for certain patients (Denenberg, 1983). Hangovers can ruin the work performance as well as work attendance. And even if you manage to make it to the hospital you won’t be capable of performing any task properly and with responsibility. Hangovers include severe headache, nausea, lethargy, diarrhea, thirst, and also induce feeling of depression and anxiety. Under such conditions you definitely will be in a state of looking after patients and taking care of them. You will surely make errors that will not be acceptable (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1999). Persistent heavy drinking or use of drugs can lead to severe consequences like making you completely incompetent, reduced work performance and being absent from the workplace. If you become a heavy drinker then the office staff will no longer keep you hired because this will leave a very immoral impact on the hospital you are working for. Your one bad habit can make you even jobless which is a very serious issue when you are looking after a family or you are living alone (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1999). Besides creating troubles for the hospital in which you are working and the patients you create problems and difficulties for yourself as well. You become more accident prone and are likely to put yourself in great trouble if you are found in a drunken state driving a car. Also if you are a regular drinker you will have no social and moral sense and therefore you fail to be a good citizen. Drinking is considered as an extremely immoral activity and a person who drinks heavily or on regular basis is not liked by the people and the people do not prefer to remain in company of such individuals (Denenberg, 1983). Nurses usually get addicted to drugs and alcohol because generally nurses have to work a number of hours without break; they get exhausted and tired and in order to remain awake they take drugs so that for the time being they forget their tiredness and pain. They do not consider what bad implications drugs can have on them and soon they get addicted to it. Once they get addicted they realize their mistake and then nothing much can be done to get rid of this habit. Drinking at the workplace spoils the environment of the workplace as well as leaves a bad impression on you. If the nurse is unable to control over herself in limiting the alcohol intake then it is necessary for the hospital management to take serious action against such nurses so that other nurses and doctors can learn a lesson. Alcohol consumption is a very common practice in the west and European countries therefore it is necessary that the institutions, organizations and hospitals must have a certain policy which limits the use of alcohol among employees. It should be necessary that every employee must abide by the policy to ensure maximum efficiency and maximum work output. Those employees who do not do so must be warned for the first time and then fired (Hoffman, 1997). Regular drinkers must realize that what they are doing is not right. Hospitals and other organizations which have employees who drink must create awareness among them about the hazards of drinking. Nurses must be guided by the doctors and it should be made compulsory for them to attend seminars about the perils of drinking. A regular check on the employees and nurses must be made and certain people should be hired who observe all the employees and directly report to the manger or the management staff about the performance and any bad habit of any of the employee. Having a regular check will definitely prove very beneficial for the organization and hospitals in maintaining a highly competent and efficient staff that will work attentively and improve the company’s efficiency and work output and will take good care of the patients. References National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U.S.). (1999). Alcohol and the workplace. Rockville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health. Hoffmann, J. P., Larison, C., Sanderson, A., United States. United States., & National Opinion Research Center. (1997). An analysis of worker drug use and workplace policies and programs. Rockville, Md: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies. Denenberg, T. S., & Denenberg, R. V. (1983). Alcohol and drugs: Issues in the workplace. Washington, D.C: Bureau of National Affairs. Read More