Recognizing and Assisting the Impaired Nurse: Recommendations for Nurse Managers

Abstract

Substance abuse among nursing professionals has increased considerably, according to the literature and statistics of the States' Boards of Nursing. The role expectation of “nurse infallibility” promoted by healthcare professionals contributes and leads to denial of problems by nurses in healthcare settings from the nurse manager's perspective. The author discusses ways to identify the chemically dependent nurse and considers some legal/ethical implications in relation to the impaired nurse. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved