Substance use disorders and drug diversion among nurses: What you need to know

Risk Education Presented by NSO 

Substance use disorders and drug diversion among nurses: What you need to know

Drug diversion occurs when a healthcare clinician diverts a drug intended for a patient for their own purposes. Clinicians steal drugs to sell or use themselves because they are suffering from substance use disorder (SUD).

As clinicians, nurses aren’t immune to SUD or drug diversion. Statistics from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and American Nurses Association suggest that about 10 percent of healthcare workers abuse drugs. And the 2021 Diversion Digest Report from Protenus, a healthcare compliance analytics platform, found that nurses were responsible for 31 percent of publicly reported drug diversion incidents in 2020. Both SUD and drug diversion have significant professional implications that nurses need to understand.

To Read the Complete Article-  NSO RM Article_SUD in Nursing_WC1355