“It’s true the monitoring programs accomplish their goal: nurses actually have a pretty good track record when it comes to returning to the bedside and safely practicing. That’s not to say treating addiction in healthcare practitioners is easy—but like most mental health modalities, it requires nuanced care, grounded in compassion.”

Nurse addicts are often high-functioning—they manage to juggle high levels of addiction while still maintaining the appearance of normalcy in their work and home lives. Add in the stigma of addiction and the fear of losing their job if they were to seek help, and their drug or alcohol abuse can go unchecked for quite some time.

Perpetuated by silence and steeped in shame—this taboo subject deserves to be brought into the light. Think about the nurses who work with you on your unit—statistically, you are working with someone doing a pretty decent job of covering up…well, their suffering, really.