Differences Between Licensed Healthcare Professionals with Substance Use-Related Licensure Discipline

Abstract

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) affects thousands of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare providers across the country. Healthcare providers who suffer from SUD are different from those in the general population who suffer from SUD, because the healthcare provider must be able to think and act appropriately to perform the duties of their respective jobs. Healthcare providers who misuse substances present not only a risk to their own health, but may also threaten the health, safety, and welfare of the patients in their care. The potential for patient harm is the cause for licensure discipline, as licensing jurisdictions seek to protect their healthcare consumers. Licensure discipline, however, may deter the provider from seeking appropriate treatment, causing them to continue practicing, while trying to avoid detection. This places patients at risk for harm. The purpose of this secondary data analysis is to compare the licensure discipline of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists with substance use disorder. Chi-square tests are used to compare disciplinary action from each profession reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank from 2007-2017 in 24 states. Eight different disciplinary outcomes are compared among the three professions based on eight grounds for discipline related to substance use disorder. Keywords: Licensure discipline, healthcare professionals, substance use disorder.