Substance Abuse among Healthcare Providers - Essay Example

Overview of Substance Abuse among Healthcare Providers Drug abuse has become a major curse for the society and hence people should be aware of the options that would keep them away from addiction. However, the medical professionals are always dealing with drugs the overuse of which might take their lives. These people have very easy access to the drugs and are often victimized more quickly than the general public. The authorities providing medical services have to ensure that these criminal offenses do not take place in their organizations. Stringent measures have to be adopted and proper monitoring has to be implemented to arrest the illicit abuse of prohibitive medicines and drugs by the healthcare professionals. Introduction Most of the professionals who are involved in any kind of healthcare services like doctors, nurses, therapists and anesthetists are vulnerable to abuse of drugs. These individuals need attention for themselves. This phenomenon may harm their patients as well. A large number of medical professionals are there who impart a negative influence on the people who they treat because they are dependent on alcohol or drugs. During the course of their career, these individuals work with these kinds of drugs and get dependent on them. Subsequently it leads to physical or mental illness of the professionals. A nurse who generally acts as a care giver to the patient during the span of treatment are often suspected with these kinds of ailments (Trinkoff and Storr, 1998). In such cases the person would be sent for immediate treatment and would be made to stay away from the patients because the drug might cause harm to the latter. Discussion Several aspects of the abuse of prohibitive substance and drugs may crop up while discussing the issue. A lot of people who are in this trade have to deal with chemicals and drugs all the time. But all of them may not be the victim of drug abuse. This attacks only some people. However, it is very difficult to detect at a very early stage of their career that who will be addicted and have such dire consequences on their health. There are various ways in which the marginal use of the drugs gets transformed into a high level of consumption leading to addiction. Often the younger students in the medical profession get pressurized by their peers and start consuming more of alcohol due to mere curiosity. The simple experimentation with the drugs can lead to life taking results. In most of the social gatherings people tend to indulge in alcoholic drinks. They might not have a sense of self control which may result in too much consumption of the products and finally obsession. It creates a very obnoxious environment for the people around and also for the individual himself. An individual may be claimed to be abusing drugs and alcohol when the person becomes dependent on the drug and would feel restless without its consumption. It would hamper his physical and mental state. The ingestion of drug at times when the circumstances are not conducive would lead to drug abuse (McBeth and Ankel, 2006). The professionals in a healthcare service who are involved in such activities take the drugs while they are interacting with their patients, treating them, undertaking surgeries or are dealing with pathological tests. They have better access to the drugs from the pharmacy since they are into this profession and they get the medicines without showing a proper prescription. The excessive use of the drug can damage their internal organs and can engulf their entire life. The professionals can also become dependent on a particular drug. There may be several symptoms of this issue. The person might not be able to go to his place of work or college. He would be tempted all the time to use the drugs and even under circumstances where there would be risks of death. The person may face problem with his near and dear ones and he might be feeling guilty from inside but he would not be able to give it up. The person may become both physically and psychologically dependent on the drugs. Research has shown that most of this phenomenon affects the younger section of the population within the age group of 18 -25. Most of the drugs that they us are illicit and may lead to death for the person. Most of the healthcare Professionals that use prohibitive drugs are the medical students and account for 10% of such people. Apart from them the Pharmacists and the Doctors are found to constitute a large section of these people. The remaining are the Laboratory and Clinical Technicians, the nurses and the assistants (Dabney, 2001). However these people often ignore their problems and do not undergo any treatment which further aggravates their problems. Tranquilizers and Marijuana are some of the commonest form of drugs that the students indulge into. The doctors can prescribe medicines on their own and often take excessive amounts of benzodiazepines and opioids. Other forms of drugs frequently used are marijuana, cocaine and heroin and are available to the ordinary residents through illegitimate channels. The practicing doctors often wrongly exploit the medicines that are not available without a proper prescription. The doctors who are engaged in the emergency departments, the intensive care units, psychiatric treatments and anesthetic procedures are mostly into this practice because strong drugs are more easily available to them. Abuse of drugs affects individuals and their associations in various ways. The family and friends of these people have to deal with this malady can have to constantly support him so that the use of these drugs can be restricted. The individual loses a lot of money and it often leads to financial constraints because the drugs are expensive. The victim is coaxed to buy the drug because he cannot stay without it, even if he cannot support his family financially or runs out of cash (Haack and Hughes, 1989). The person become psychologically dependent on the drug and it mentally affects him if he cannot consume it. The physical condition of the victim is also jeopardized which in turn leads to a degradation in the performance at work. The appearance of the individual undergoes a drastic change. The individual gets alienated from the peers and colleagues and the social reputation gets hampered. Patients may not be willing to go to such a doctor for treatment. There are several laws in almost all countries across the world against the excessive use of drugs and it is a criminal offense. In the U.S. the Controlled Substances Act was brought in 1970 by the Federal Government to control the excessive use and criminalization of the act of drug abuse. The act also dealt with the necessity of treatment of the person who has become addicted (U.S. Department of HHS, 1996). The use of drugs is often controlled by the imposition of high rates of taxation making the prices of the drugs very high. However, substance abuse should be controlled more by psychological counseling of the victims and thereby helping them to overcome their dependence. There should be counseling sessions in each of the centers where medical facility is provided and to those who have very easy access to drugs. Conclusion A person who is impaired by drug abuse would pose threat to both himself and the patient that he is treating. Therefore as soon as the person is detected with such ailments should be reported to the higher authority for treatment. It should be noted in this regard that Substance abuse is a social problems because it affects even those individuals who are not indulging in such activities. Steps have to be taken by the government to impart awareness about the bad consequences through campaigns at the basic levels of schools colleges and training centers of the medical professionals, both working and the aspiring. References Trinkoff, A. M. and Storr, C. I. (1998). Substance Use among Nurses: Differences between Specialties. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 88. Dabney, D. A. (2001). Onset of Illegal Use of Mind-altering or Potentially Addictive Prescription Drugs among Pharmacists. Journal of American Pharmaceutical Association. Issue 41(3). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (1996). Drug Use Among U.S. Workers: Prevalence and Trends by Occupation and Industry Categories. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of HHS. Haack, M. R. and Hughes, T. L. (1989). Addiction in the nursing profession. New York: Springer Publishing Company. McBeth, B.D. and Ankel, F. K. (2006). Dont ask, dont tell: substance use by resident physicians . Journal of Academic Emergency Medicine. Issue 13(8). Read More