Solutions For Healthcare Professionals Facing Addiction

Every healthcare provider in the United States is trained to help and care for the needs of others. However, many doctors, nurses, therapists, and other providers tend to put off getting help when they need it themselves. This is especially true when it comes to drug and alcohol addiction, which are common but treatable mental health conditions that occur among all classes of medical workers serving the public today. 

In fact, due to the unique challenges and concerns surrounding addiction in healthcare professionals, specialized resources for substance abuse and addiction have been developed and invested in in recent years, including physician health programs (PHPs). These programs can provide targeted and discreet support for those who experience alcohol use disorders or drug use disorders, while also encouraging and supporting healthcare professionals in recovery already. 

Why Doctors And Other Medical Professionals Experience Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

Healthcare professions are among the fastest growing jobs in Ohio today. Unfortunately, the day-to-day reality of modern medicine is oftentimes difficult for people who provide healthcare services. Many work extremely long hours and endure extended periods of sleep deprivation in understaffed environments, often taking work home with them in the form of notes and paperwork.

Along with grueling physical demands, healthcare positions may also be very stressful mentally, and even traumatic, as doctors, nurses, first responders, therapists, and others are exposed to pain, suffering, injury, distress, and death on a routine basis, and must make decisions with profound long-term consequences for their patients.  

This stress adds up and takes a toll. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least:

• 46% of healthcare workers reported feeling burned out in 2022
• 44% were considering looking for a new job
• 53% reported feelings of anxiety
• 31% reported feelings of depression
• 13% experienced harassment on the job

In the face of this demanding reality, it comes with little surprise that many healthcare professionals eventually turn to substance use in order to cope. However, misusing drugs or alcohol in order to deal with stress and strain is not a sustainable solution and will eventually produce long-term consequences, including the possible development of tolerance, dependence, and addiction. 

When this occurs, a healthcare provider’s health and mental abilities may be impacted, along with their ability to provide safe and effective care to others.  

Healthcare Professionals And Opioid Use Disorder

As part of their responsibilities, healthcare providers are able to access a wide variety of different controlled substances with high abuse potentials. These include drugs like benzodiazepines, prescription stimulants, and prescription painkillers like codeine, tramadol, morphine, oxycodone (OxyContin, Roxicodone), hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone, fentanyl, and others.

Some healthcare providers have been known to misuse this access in order to use these controlled, prescription-only substances. Not only does this place a healthcare provider’s career in jeopardy, but it is also illegal.

Experts believe that rates of substance abuse among healthcare providers are at least as high as those among the general population and likely somewhat higher, or 10-15% or more over all providers’ lifetimes, according to a recent study published in Journal of Addiction Medicine. Rates are likely even higher when it comes to opioid diversion and abuse. The same study found that among healthcare professionals receiving treatment for substance use disorder, 69% had abused prescription drugs, with opioids being the most common class of substance used. Another report, in Annals of Internal Medicine, found that healthcare support workers were 100% more likely, and registered nurses 51% more likely, than non-healthcare workers to die of a drug overdose, most commonly opioid overdose. 

Treatment Resources For Healthcare Professionals Experiencing Addiction

If you are a healthcare professional struggling with substance use, dependence, or addiction, you shouldn’t close yourself off or continue to suffer in silence. Addiction treatment programs and other resources outlined below are available to help you address the root cause of your substance use, walking with you as you work out your long-term recovery. 

State-Based Physician Health Programs (PHPs)

Not to be confused with partial hospitalization programs, state-based physician health programs are robust programs developed to help healthcare providers manage behavioral, medical, or psychiatric conditions that may otherwise impair their ability to provide proper and responsible medical care. This includes providing treatment and management of substance use disorders. 

PHPs coordinate programs to detect, evaluate, and treat SUDs and other conditions, and to provide continuing care and monitoring of those healthcare providers who have received treatment in the past. PHPs can steer healthcare providers into suitable treatment services voluntarily, or providers may be forced into treatment with a PHP if evidence of their substance use is found out in some other way. They may also be able to help find clinical coverage for healthcare providers while they are participating in addiction treatment services. 

PHPs are confidential, with services available to physicians, other licensed healthcare professionals, and those receiving medical training. They are also considered to be highly effective, with most PHPs reporting significantly higher rates of treatment success compared to public addiction treatment programs or programs provided to any other specialized patient population.

Healthcare Professional-Specific Addiction Treatment Programs

In order to ensure patient safety, state medical boards take allegations of substance use and impairment among healthcare workers extremely seriously, and often require higher levels of treatment intervention for compromised healthcare providers than may be recommended for members of the general public in the same situation. 

These enhanced requirements, and the specific and unique concerns and challenges that face medical providers, are often best served by addiction treatment programs exclusively designed for healthcare professionals. In these inpatient programs, clients can work with recovery specialists who:

• are experienced in treating people with a background in medicine and who have been exposed to medical stress and trauma
• can provide a more intensive standard of treatment 
• can prepare their clients for post-treatment monitoring and continuing care recovery plans 
• are able to incorporate stress-management techniques into the treatment process to help clients better manage burnout, harassment, trauma, and other workplace issues
• can provide guidance in areas of professional licensing, medical reputation, workplace monitoring, and other areas
• are able to fully protect client anonymity at all times

Discrete Residential Treatment Centers

The medical community can sometimes be very small, especially in tight-knit communities or across certain specialties. This may pose a challenge for healthcare professionals who need addiction treatment, as it may be impossible to do so anonymously or confidentially in their local area. 

For this reason, it is often recommended that healthcare providers seek treatment outside their local and medical communities, oftentimes crossing over state lines in order to access care with providers with whom they do not have any prior relationship. Residential treatment programs are ideal for this purpose, and many, including Ohio Recovery Center, are able to also provide intensive and trauma-informed recovery services along with dual diagnosis care for co-occurring mental health disorders. 

Continuing Care Plans

Because their day-to-day responsibilities will continue to be demanding and involve routine access to substances of abuse after their treatment programs, healthcare providers face unique challenges and risks in ongoing recovery. 

However, healthcare providers who are equipped with a continuing care plan after their treatment program concludes are much more likely to remain sober long-term.

These plans generally continue for a five-year period and include specific, mandated requirements like:

• step-down outpatient treatment participation
• participating in a 12-step program or other self-help group
• sobriety monitoring with random drug testing and behavioral assessments
• counseling appointments
• advanced accountability programs involving a client’s spouse, employer, or physician

Random drug testing, with the potential for a participant to lose their license or face other contingencies when testing positive, has been shown to have a particularly meaningful impact on treatment effectiveness. Just 22% of those who participate in this monitoring approach test positive in a five-year span, according to the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

Discrete, Compassionate, And Experienced Care At ORC

It’s understandable that many healthcare providers are reluctant to reach out for help when they begin to experience a substance use disorder. But the sooner you get help and start the recovery process, the better off you will be. 

Ohio Recovery Center is proud to offer discrete and comprehensive treatment services for all forms of addiction for healthcare professionals at our residential Van Wert treatment campus. This includes dual diagnosis care for co-occurring mental health disorders, stress-management counseling, and aftercare coordination to support healthcare professionals in recovery long after they complete their treatment program. 

To learn more or explore your own treatment options, please reach out today.