The Impaired Nurse When you think about nurses you think a person who caring for patient and saving them but you don t think a nurse would have a problem with drugs or any other substances A nurse can have many reasons to resort to substances abuse since nursing is one of the most stressful job Some nurses don't have how to handle their stress so there are some people that resort to substance abuse to help them ease the stress Risk to Patients Impaired Nurses are one of the biggest risk to patients due to being to hide the signs that they are under the influence of a substances ranging from drugs alcohol or any other substance The issue is being able to figure out a nurse is under the influence since they can hide it so well from everyone surround them from fellow nurses to patients Addictions of any kind for example drugs alcohol nicotine gambling and eating disorders can result in cost to individuals families patients and overall the society in the hospital Impaired nurses are a challenging and complex issue for the nursing profession Since the signs are sometimes missed due to not being a to recognize the warnings Most of the time a nurse a concerned and preoccupied with their own responsibilities and duties that it's hard to see that a fellow nurse might need help