The AANA recommends all healthcare facilities create, improve, and enforce comprehensive and evidence-based policies and procedures to address at-risk substance use, drug diversion, impairment, and substance use disorder (SUD) in healthcare providers, including anesthesia professionals.
A 2019 safety notice issued by The Joint Commission encouraged all healthcare organizations to establish a policy to help detect and deter drug diversion. Leaders have the responsibility to institute processes for rapid response to drug diversion and to create a safety culture that supports staff with uniform and equitable management of providers with at-risk use.
This environment makes staff feel safe and empowered to speak up promptly with concerns, i.e., “see something, say something.” The AANA recommends the following key elements in the development and implementation of workplace policy and procedures:
Well-conceived and well-executed policies and procedures can help healthcare professionals restore their health and retain their licensure, career, and identity. A pathway to return to a workplace is an incentive for sustained remission. This approach may help decrease the costs by reducing the need for staff dismissal, recruitment, and replacement.
Resources for nurse anesthetists and facilities to prevent, detect, and treat substance use disorder.
The AANA Helpline—800-654-5167—is available 24/7 for a live, confidential response with support, information, and helpful resources. (For a crisis with potential immediate risk for harm to yourself or others, call 911 or 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.)