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.