Question

How are nurses working in Mental Health partucularily vulnerable to issues with Professional Boundaries and Substance Abuse Disorders?

Answer 1

The nurses working in mental health department are at very high risk and vulnerable for substance abuse and issues with professional boundaries .

The increased level of stress ,easy accessibility , to get rid of body pain and fatigue ,etc., The nurse uses the available pain killers in order to get relief from physical pain and hence to get a psychological relief. In US nearly 10% of the nurses use or vulnerable to substance abuse .If not drugs they substitute with alcohol in place of it.

The patient's who are mentally ill most of the time needs personal care. This may be one of the major cause to cross professional boundaries . This happens when there is power imbalance in the staff, lack of knowledge, gender bias, lack of staff to care for same gender, emotional attachment, over sympathy and empathy can contribute to this event. Hence the two vulnerability has to be prevented by organizations providing a safe environment to work along with nurses gaining adequate knowledge in how to stay away from this concern.