As if the work of a nurse isn’t hard enough, here comes a profession called addictions nursing. Aside from the usual problem-solving skills and the emotional quotient needed to perform the job of a nurse, an addictions nurse has to deal with the medical malaise and mental issues attributed to addiction. This goes far beyond the standard knowledge and experience of a hospital nurse.
If you’re interested in addiction nursing jobs, you’ll need to meet certain nurse training and education requirements. You can begin on your new career path by attending an accredited online nursing school. Here’s how to become an addictions nurse.
- Ask yourself if you have the ability to afflict the comfortable. A preacher once said, “God’s words not only comfort the afflicted but afflict the comfortable.” Addiction is a comfortable escape for addicts, are you ready to shake them out of their comfort zone and tell it like it is?
- Get back into school. To start this nurse career, you have to first pursue a two-year or four-year degree in nursing and graduate with a Bachelor of Science or BSN degree.
- Prepare for your coursework. You will come across these areas of study:
- Nursing care for men and women of all ages and conditions
- Nursing for the mental health profession
- Nursing for the community
- Behavioral science
- Physical science
- Addiction nursing
- Take part in an internship program. You are required to participate in an internship program that your school recommends, just make sure you qualify for this by getting good grades. Look forward to working in drug addiction facilities or similar addiction facilities that will expose you to how professional addiction nurses do their work with patients dealing with addiction.
- Get a Master’s degree in Addiction Nursing. A bachelor’s degree is usually not enough for this nursing profession. If you have a master’s degree, you’ll most likely have more addiction nursing job opportunities.
- Get yourself certified. You may ask for assistance from your school or the National Nurses Society on Addictions (NNSA) to walk you though the requirements so you can get your license to work anywhere within the U.S. Once you pass the series of qualifying examinations, you are officially called a Certified Addiction Registered Nurse (CARN).
- Attend NNSA-sanctioned conferences. It cannot be stressed how important this is for you. This conference is held annually and gets you up to speed on the latest proven methods to deal with addiction as well as gives you access to NNSA journals that will be of immense help to nurse your patients back to health.
Your tasks as a CARN will take you anywhere from detoxification, therapy and recovery until your patient is declared sober and able to continue life drug free. You’ll organize group and family therapy sessions, participate in an interdisciplinary team similar to a technical working group to exchange ideas on addiction treatment, give personal one-on-one counseling, and continue the evaluation of patients’ progress or regression.
Hospitals, companies, schools and government health agencies are among the ideal work environments for addiction nurses.
As you take advanced courses in addiction nursing, you will also find yourself working in research and development at universities and facilities—institutions that look for a definite cure to addiction.