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UK: Test all nurses for drug use, says union
Helen Puttick, Health Correspondent The Herald, Glasgow
Tuesday 27 Jan 2004 COMPULSORY drug testing for Scottish nurses is being considered by the country's largest nursing union amid fears that staff may be under the influence of illegal substances on hospital wards. Screening of nurses for drugs or alcohol at work is being put to the vote by the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, and a pilot project to gauge the scale of substance abuse may follow. Previous attempts to study the level of the problem in Scotland broke down amid concern that checks could make it harder to recruit nursing staff. However, leading members of RCN Scotland want to look at the issue, saying members are at risk because they work in a stressful environment, have access to drugs and sometimes need to stay awake all night. It is estimated 10% to 20% of registered nurses in the United States have substance abuse problems with 6% to 8% likely to be impaired by their habit, but there is no UK data. May McCreaddie, a member of the RCN's Scottish board and senior lecturer at the school of nursing in Paisley, proposed the issue for discussion at the union's annual conference next month. She said: "There is no detail at all on the level of substance use among nurses in the UK, but if you consider nurses, they are quite a vulnerable group, low in self esteem, open to a lot of pressures. They have access to a lot of substances and there is some evidence to suggest that when someone does have a problem nurses are more likely to cover up for them than expose them." Random drug testing was proposed at St Bartholomew's School of Nursing in London in 1999, after students admitted taking substances including cannabis and ecstasy, but faced strong opposition. However, experts say recreational drug use is widespread, with 17% of 16-24-year-olds and 10% of 25-34-year-olds telling the British Crime Survey they had taken an illicit drug in the last month. Ms McCreaddie said she is opposed to mandatory testing nationwide but wants a study to assess how prevalent drug and alcohol abuse is in the nursing community. "It is something we need to look at," she said. "Quite often nursing is regulated by other people. I think it is good if we can do it ourselves." Scotland Against Drugs, an agency launched to raise awareness of the nation's drug misuse problem, provides companies with a free drug policy which includes unannounced testing of staff. Alistair Ramsay, director of Scotland Against Drugs, said: "If employers generally think they are protected from recreational drug use in the workplace they are making an error. For some who use drugs at the weekend or at night the effects will still be there the next day. Therefore there will be a very significant effect on a firm's profitability or efficiency." He recommended that anyone caught by screening should be offered help and support by their employer rather than being shown the door. Jane McCready, chairwoman of the Scottish Board of the RCN, said this was also their approach to testing, which is likely to be discussed and voted on by more than 100 members at the March conference. Mrs McCready, who is on the organising committee for the conference, said: "We are not looking at it saying if this is happening we are going to punish you for doing it.?" John Arthur, of drugs information group Crew 2000, warned drug testing pushed people towards harder drugs which clear the system quicker.
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