Nurses: Chemical Impairment Risks to Safety & Patient Care - Essay Sample

Introduction

Nurses play critical roles in society that require sober minds. They hold the lives of their patients in their hands, and any small mistake could affect the victim’s health adversely. Chemical, mental and physical impairments render nurses unable to execute professional duties without supervision. As a result, they threaten their safety and that of their colleagues and patients, violating the code of ethics stipulated by the American Nurses Association (ANA).

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Chemical impairment usually results in mental and physical impairment. However, sometimes these conditions can emanate from other factors such as exhaustion and burnout. It is unethical for nurses to be on duty while impaired because they can make fatal mistakes. Nursing is predominantly a hands-on profession. Therefore, being physically impaired makes it impossible to execute most of the duties, especially those involving taking care of patients. Mental impairment interferes with the ability to process things soberly and act professionally. Nurses in such conditions should refrain from critical tasks where they can make minor or grave mistakes that could have severe consequences.

Currently, approximately 10% of nurses in America are chemically impaired (Starr, 2015). This problem often starts during nursing training and has been worsening over the years, with alcohol being the most common cause of impairment. For students, chemical impairment is a risk factor for mental impairment, which makes it difficult to understand anything in class. The problem can result in expulsion and loss of chance in this prestigious profession. Incarceration, suspension, and loss of license lead to dismissal from employment among impaired nurses who are unable to execute their duties effectively. These consequences deny the profession potentially skilled and qualified workers, worsening the ongoing nursing shortage. In this paper, the author will discuss the ethical implications of chemical, physical, and mental impairment.

Ethical Dimensions

Impairment affects nurses’ competence. It clouds their cognitive and psychomotor abilities leading to mental and physical inabilities to make prudent judgments on critical issues and execute tasks. In this condition, caregivers have high chances of charting incorrectly, forgetting orders, administering incorrect treatments (Strobbe & Crowley, 2017). They also deliver low-quality care, leading to poor health outcomes.

Besides, chemical, mental, and physical impairment among professionals jeopardizes the safety of patients. Nurses in this condition have high chances of committing critical medical mistakes that can harm a patient (Olson & Stokes, 2016). For instance, they can dress wounds using nonsterile items, leading to hospital-acquired infections that can complicate the health of a client. A physically impaired caregiver may inflict harm on patients during invasive procedures. Similarly, intoxicated caregivers can neglect in dialysis in dialysis, leading to blood clots and eventual death.

Impairment also hinders communication, one of the most critical elements in nursing. It interferes with chemical processes in the brain, making it difficult to read, comprehend, and speak effectively. When impaired, nurses lose the empathy and sensitivity required while passing on sensitive information to a patient or family, such as terminal diagnosis and prognosis (Olson & Stokes, 2016). Also, it increases the risk of disclosing confidential data, such as HIV diagnosis, to unauthorized parties, violating the right to privacy.

Relevance to Nursing

Impairment is a threat to the nursing profession. According to Nair, Nemeth, Williams, Newman, and Sommers (2015), the risk of chemical impairment among nurses start during training. Their study reported higher cases of substance use than previous studies, showing that the problem has been worsening over the years. Abusing substances causes mental and physical impairment that interferes with students’ education and practice abilities (Nair et al. 2015). If not supervised well, they can cause unsafe patient care and harm. Impaired nursing students risk immediate expulsion.

A study by Starr (2015) showed that approximately 10% of nurses in America are chemically, mentally, and physically impaired due to substance use. The prevalence varies by specialty, being highest in units dealing with critical care. These kinds of impairments reduce competence and ability to work without supervision, which endangers the lives of patients. When chemically impaired, nurses lose their ability to perceive things, provide safe care, and act professionally. Mental impairment makes it impossible to comprehend real situations accurately. In such circumstances, caregivers are, therefore, more likely to commit minor or grave medical mistakes that can result in adverse health outcomes and cause harm to themselves and their colleagues.

Impaired nurses risk facing legal charges due to their harmful actions. They can face incarceration, suspension, or revocation of license and dismissal from employment. Further, criminal records make it impossible to practice as a nurse in the future (Foli, Reddick, Zhang & Edwards, 2019). Such situations result in a loss of health insurance and access to treatment, denying victims a chance to recover. It also increases the risk of morbidity and fatality from drug use, exacerbating the crisis in healthcare.

There is a shortage of qualified and skilled nurses in America, leading to increased preventable adverse health outcomes. Loss of license and dismissal from employment due to impairment make this situation worse, as the profession loses experienced nurses. According to Nair et al. (2015), expulsion from school robs many young people with incredible potential entry and growth in this prestigious career.

Relevant Ethical Analysis

NCBSN and the nursing code of ethics require nurses to show and uphold competence for license renewal and recognition. They should provide high-quality, patient-centered care, where individuals and families contribute to the decision-making process (ANA, 2015). At the same time, the caregivers should work closely with teams, including those from other departments, to ensure proper coordination of treatment care. This principle ensures patients receive high standard services that result in the best possible outcomes. However, impaired nurses cannot fulfil these requirements. They lose the mental, emotional, and physical ability to provide competent care, resulting in errors and adverse health outcomes (Strobbe & Crowley, 2017).

Chemically impaired nurses often engage in drug diversion. This action threatens the safety of patients as it leads to insufficiency of medication available (Foli et al. 2019). As a result, patients’ health fails to improve or worsen, resulting in prolonged suffering, disability, or death. Nurses who diverted drugs for selfish purposes end up committing harm, which goes against nurses’ standard code of practice. This malicious action also violates the provision of the ANA center’s code of ethics that requires nurses’ primary concern to be their patients by protecting life and never causing harm (ANA, 2015). Besides, stealing drugs meant for the sick and vulnerable is morally wrong according to social constructs. It is illegal and can result in criminal penalties, including fines and prison sentences, as well as suspension or revocation of license. Most of the substances abused by nurses are illegal according to American laws.

One of the guiding principles of nursing regulations provided by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCBSN) is protecting the public. Nurses should manage risks and safeguard the safety of every person in the health care setting to avoid harm. When impaired, nurses are unable to protect the welfare, safety, and health of the public, including their patients. Instead, they increase the risk of harm due to the loss of cognitive and psychomotor skills (Foli et al. 2019). A typical example is driving when chemically and physically impaired, which can result in accidents with severe injuries or fatalities.

Mental impairments lead to violations of nurses’ code of conduct. They affect one’s ability to comprehend present situations and execute professional duties. In this condition, performance deteriorates, as nurses chart incorrectly, forget or give inappropriate orders, and perform harmful procedures. Also, impaired nurses are often inaccessible to their designated patients, family, and staff, resulting in reduced quality of care. They often lose touch with reality and are unable to act accordingly in emergencies. They also regularly make mistakes that can harm patients, violating the foundations of nursing.

Physical impairment robs nurses the ability to execute their nursing duties of caring for people. The profession requires one to be physically fit and capable (ANA, 2015). When physiologically incapacitated, nurses can only perform limited duties. Taking up responsibilities that one can not handle in such circumstances would be unethical. Loss of physical abilities compromises one’s ability to operate medical equipment such as respirators, syringes, or dialysis machines resulting in clinical errors. The result is patients suffering more harm in hospitals than when they arrived, which violated ANA’s code of ethics for nurses. In addition, physical impairment results in high turnover and absenteeism rates, violating workplace standards (Strobbe & Crowley, 2017).

Another critical principle of nursing is communication (NCBSN). According to the nursing code of ethics, nurses must handle patients’ data confidentially and sensitively (ANA, 2015). They must also be conscientious in their reporting and deal with complaints effectively. Being impaired eliminates these elements in their practice. According to Olson and Stokes (2016), the condition interferes with communication skills as it impairs reading, comprehension, and speech abilities, and increases the chances of inaccurate reporting. It also makes someone sloppy and careless in their work, leading to carelessness while handling patients’ information. As a result, impaired nurses lose the vital elements of confidentiality, meticulousness, and sensitivity required for ethical nursing practice.

Impaired nursing practice increases the risk of emotional, physical, and professional harm. It jeopardizes the best interests and rights of patients, colleagues, and the public. Further, impairment affects one’s ability to practice according to professional standards and lowers the quality of services delivered by nurses (Olson & Stokes, 2016). The condition gives someone a bravado to engage in risky and embarrassing activities in the workplace, such as fights and being rowdy. These actions violate ANA’s ethical code of ensuring a moral environment that is conducive to quality health care

Personal Professional Response

Nurses must always uphold strict ethical standards of practice. One of the provisions of the ethics code is to respect and fulfill patients’ right to safe and skilled care. Further, nursing is a commitment to take care of the vulnerable in society, including the sick and the injured. Professionals should, therefore, uphold and protect social justice, human rights, health initiatives, and diplomacy. These responsibilities require them to be sober, fit, alert, and focused, and to avoid any kinds of impairments. Nurses have a moral, ethical snd legal obligation to protect the safety of patients and the public. Therefore, they should report any suspected cases of impairments that can interfere with practice.

Nursing education emphasizes the principle of taking care of oneself to take care of others. One of the most common effects of i...