Nurses' experiences with impaired nurse coworkers.
Employed nurses enrolled in a Registered Nurse (RN)-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program (n = 128, 56% of total sample) or a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program (n = 101, 44% of total) were surveyed on their recent experiences with impaired nurse coworkers. Both groups reported similar experiences. In the combined sample, 99 nurses (43.2%) reported experiences with one or more impaired nurse coworkers in the past 12 months. A large majority (79%) of the experiences involved direct evidence of impairment (e.g., observation of unprofessional conduct) rather than mere hearsay. The actions most frequently taken by the respondents include reporting the coworker to immediate superior (37%) and confronting the coworker (37%). This survey yields evidence that encounters with impaired coworkers in nursing are not rare events for today's nurses.
Damrosch
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S
School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201.
Scholler-Jaquish
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A
D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate; D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D011363:Professional Impairment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*