Placing a Central Vascular Access Device in a Patient with Substance Use Disorder: The Ethical Position of the Infusion Nurse

Abstract

When infusion nurses place central vascular access devices in patients with substance use disorder (SUD), they are both enabling treatment and making the patient more vulnerable to his or her addictive illness. Using the lens of rescue enables an exploration of the ethical position of the infusion nurse regarding these patients, even though rescue, per se, is inadequate to the complexity of the situation. Suggestions are offered to both the infusion nurse and the health care team for improving their ethical stance, as well as their care of patients with SUD.