University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing PhD student T’Anya Carter, CRNA, MS, published an article in the December 2019 issue of the journal Workplace Health Safety discussing why the nursing profession should institute random drug screening.
Carter’s article, titled “Should Nursing Institute Random Drug Screening?” compares the dangers of drug use and driving 18 wheelers to drug use by nurses in the workplace.
In the 1980s and 1990s, scientists highlighted the danger resulting from transportation industry workers’ use of drugs and alcohol, and those studies led to more discussion about substance use disorder, and a law making drug testing mandatory in the trucking industry.
“The risk of harm to others by an impaired truck driver is comparable to an impaired nurse delivering patient care,” Carter’s article states, which is why the nursing profession should also have random drug screening. As a next step, the article says work should be done to implement substance use disorder screenings for nurses.
This article was co-authored by Carter’s mentor, Associate Professor in Nursing Karen Heaton, PhD, COHN-S, FNP-BC, FAAN, FAAOHN, and Associate Dean Maria R. Shirey, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN.
Workplace Health Safety is the official publication of the American Association of Occupational Health Nursing Inc. (AAOHN) and publishes articles related to emergency and all-hazard preparedness, health promotion, safety and other topics.
