Drug Addiction in Teens
According to Okuku, out of every five smokers, one will develop cancer. Drug abuse can also lead to mental illness, loss of jobs or dropping out of school. In most cases, addicts commit crimes under the influence of drugs, although this may not save …
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Prescription drug addiction: an equal-opportunity disease
Now the new treatment center offers sixteen beds that are filling up quickly and roughly 20 local jobs for employees. “Drug addiction is an equal opportunity disease and it affects everyone,” said Nauts. “Shaking loose of an addiction to prescription …
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Cooper: Homeless missionary pedals his beliefs
Several years ago, in the midst of the Great Recession, Peters was laid off from his Syracuse job in the automobile parts field. … "I thought most [participants] were drunks and drug addicts," he says, "but they were just looking for a hand up, not a …
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Prescription Drug Abuse: CDC Answers Your Questions
PBS NewsHour recently aired a report on prescription drug abuse that led viewers to ask many questions. We asked the CDC to answer them, below. One in 20 people in the United States say they've used prescription painkillers for non-medical reasons in …
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Lyons: Drug courts offer sober approach to drug abuse
Drug addiction is a major societal problem with an annual treatment cost of $ 193 billion each year in crime, lost productivity and health-care costs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. … There's one reason for the growth: Drug courts …
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Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

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Virtual reality worlds could help treat drug addicts learn coping methods to …
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Pharmacists are often on the front line against prescription drug abuse …
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